Wild Canaries

Released Feb 25, 2015

1h 42m

Comedy

Mystery & Thriller

Romance

List

83%

29 Reviews

Tomatometer

42%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

A couple living in Brooklyn suspects foul play when a neighbor in a rent-controlled apartment suddenly dies.

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Critics Consensus

Marrying hipster narcissism with old school noir, Wild Canaries is a lighthearted and slick update on the classic Hollywood murder mystery.

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Alec B

Levine's putting his own spin on one of Woody Allen's murder mystery comedies, substituting high strung Brooklyn hipsters for the neurotic Manhattan intellectuals of those films. It's rather amusing, even if some of the plot is undercooked.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/13/23

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john m

Entertaining but pretty lazy in its execution of mystery plot intricacies. The chemistry between all the relatable characters keeps the film afloat for the most part until it tries to tie up its absurd mystery in a bland 2 minute window near the end. Still, it's worth a watch. It's very rare to see mysteries this casual which I kind of admired.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Takal's character is so incredibly annoying I wanted to tell her to shut up. Other than that, confusing ending and 'okay' story.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

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Audience Member

muy buena! me encantó

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

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Audience Member

absolute despicable trash. Lawrence Michael Levine is a thief who couldn't even have the decency to steal another artist's work and then actually make a good (or even decent) movie with it. what a fuckhead

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

jesse o

Unsure of what to make about this film. It's obvious that there's a lot of enthusiasm behind this project and it's clearly a labor of love from all of those involved. It's a tribute to old-school screwball murder mysteries, but I just don't think that the film really comes together in an entertaining fashion until much later in the film. It really gets going once both Noah and Barri join forces in their 'investigation' to figure out who's behind the conspiracy going on here. Prior to that, both Noah and Barri spend almost every scene together arguing and yelling at each other about something or another. Whether it be their economical situation, their lack of support for the other, their wedding, potential extramarital affairs, the fact that Barri is pursuing a murder investigation without any proof of one, etc, etc. It gets to a point where this couple is really just insufferable to listen to and parts of me wouldn't have minded if I shut off the movie. It's not that every film character should be likable, but you have to at least understand their motivations in acting they way they do, even if they're acting irrationally or annoying, as these two frequently do. And in some parts, I do see why they behave a certain way, but I still found them insufferable for, at least, 65% of the film. And I get the reasoning behind it, Noah and Barri's relationship needed a spark, and this murder investigation gave it to them, it just comes too late into the film to truly make an impact. This is one of those films that some will simply dismiss as a hipster-indie comedy and I don't think that's fair. While I didn't think it was good, it was really close to it by the end actually, I don't think there's any real 'pretentiousness' in the film itself, I think that people are letting the vibe of the film, or its trailer, take importance over the content of the film itself. You can't pass judgment based on your perception of the film without having seen it. I do think that as the film nears the end, everything starts coming together really nicely. They're really into the murder mystery and they're feeding you bits and pieces of information to keep you intrigued. The comedy also really clicked right around the same time. The best bits are just as the film is ending. It's not like there aren't any funny moments prior to that, it's just that they come with more frequency as the film reaches its climax. The writing is acceptable, at least as far as dialogue goes, the narrative itself doesn't really work until, as mentioned, it nears the climax. The acting is quite good, easily the best part of the film. I was really close to thinking this movie was good. It just didn't get there, unfortunately enough. This is a love it or hate it film. I think it's well-made, though it lacks some plot coherence that would've really taken it over the edge in the long run. Still, this is about as good as an average film can be.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Lawrence Michael Levine

Director

Sophia Takal

Barri

Lawrence Michael Levine

Noah

Alia Shawkat

Jean

Annie Parisse

Eleanor

Jason Ritter

Damien

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Critics Consensus: Focus is Sleek and Slick But Too Twisty

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Michael Rechtshaffen

Los Angeles Times

Attempting to capture the screwball essence of the old-school suspense-comedy ... Lawrence Michael Levine's flighty "Wild Canaries" lacks the filmmaking discipline required to pay effective homage.

Mar 5, 2015

Full Review

John Hartl

Seattle Times

Cute or presumptuous? It's your call where "Wild Canaries" is concerned.

Rated: 2.5/4

Mar 5, 2015

Full Review

Katie Walsh

The Playlist

The genre play is an interesting take on what has become a clich genre of Brooklyn relationship dramedy. But unfortunately, the execution is bungled along the way, and the film ends up feeling like not quite one thing and not quite the other.

Rated: B-

Feb 28, 2015

Full Review

Morgan Rojas

Cinemacy

While there are funny moments, mostly coming from Levine and Shawkat's performances, most of the film is lackluster, especially the relationships between the characters.

Nov 9, 2018

Full Review

Kathy Fennessy

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

[Lawrence Michael] Levine juices the intrigue with humor (a dub-intensive score elevates the tension), and that helps to keep things engaging, but man oh man, can these people be exasperating.

Aug 21, 2017

Full Review

Bill Graham

The Film Stage

Clearly, Canaries is all about the couple at its core, who are both drawn smoothly.

Rated: B-

Jun 21, 2016

Full Review

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Synopsis

A couple living in Brooklyn suspects foul play when a neighbor in a rent-controlled apartment suddenly dies.

Director: Lawrence Michael Levine
Producer: Andrew Corkin, Scott Chestman
Screenwriter: Lawrence Michael Levine
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: Little Teeth Pictures, Uncorked Productions, Reality Pictures
Genre: Comedy, Mystery & Thriller, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 25, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 5, 2016
Runtime: 1h 42m

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