I stumbled across this film just as it was starting. The discovery was quite a surprise to me. Although I know many films of the crime genre I had never heard of The Cheap Detective. I decided to give the movie a try.
The film is a Neil Simon play adapted for the big screen. This means that one gets very little physical action. One gets characters moving from room to room spouting dialog at each other. This works OK to a point but it holds back the film from becoming more than a 2 to 3 star movie. Turner Classic movies has it as 2 star; I think 3 star is probably better but it probably settle between the 2 ratings.
The set up section was a bit slow and had me wondering if I would stay through to the end. I know many of the films being parodied and I know how hard it is to pull in all the various elements to make a humorous parody so I can cut the production some slack there. So...while a send up of Casablanca's Ricks is necessary it doesn't mean that it came off that well.
The film gets better once we get out of Rick's. The pacing and the dialog come together better once we get to what I think Simon had more in mind which is a Sam Spade\Philip Marlowe send up of the Cheap Detective's relationship with his women. But...the scenes have to be set up somehow.
I read from some the reviews that they can't understand Peter Falk's dialog. I had no issues with his speech. In fact the film is carried by Falk's acting ability. He pulls off the Cheap Detective role well because it is not far from Columbo for him to play.
It certainly helps to know the source material. The cameos and supporting roles add a charm 35 years later playing the game of "oh...that is so-and-so" as they appear on screen. But if one doesn't know that John Houseman is doing a send up of Sydney Greenstreet's Kasper Gutman then one completely misses out on what is actually going on.
The problem is that there is no real purpose to the story. There is no point. It doesn't have that "edge" that Mel Brook's most successful films\stories had. If you didn't see where this was going you must be young.
That said...I didn't mind watching The Cheap Detective. Will I buy it and add to the movie collection? Probably not. Do I consider it better, same or worse than Murder By Death? Well...it is different because The Cheap Detective only has one lead character to lampoon versus creating the MBD ensemble. I personally like CD over MBD but only because I am more over a ladies man for a movie and CD has more cheesecake in it. That's hardly saying one is better; I think they are basically the same product just done a little bit different.
It certainly is a lot better...though....than the sophomoric material that passes for comedy in today's world.
The film is a Neil Simon play adapted for the big screen. This means that one gets very little physical action. One gets characters moving from room to room spouting dialog at each other. This works OK to a point but it holds back the film from becoming more than a 2 to 3 star movie. Turner Classic movies has it as 2 star; I think 3 star is probably better but it probably settle between the 2 ratings.
The set up section was a bit slow and had me wondering if I would stay through to the end. I know many of the films being parodied and I know how hard it is to pull in all the various elements to make a humorous parody so I can cut the production some slack there. So...while a send up of Casablanca's Ricks is necessary it doesn't mean that it came off that well.
The film gets better once we get out of Rick's. The pacing and the dialog come together better once we get to what I think Simon had more in mind which is a Sam Spade\Philip Marlowe send up of the Cheap Detective's relationship with his women. But...the scenes have to be set up somehow.
I read from some the reviews that they can't understand Peter Falk's dialog. I had no issues with his speech. In fact the film is carried by Falk's acting ability. He pulls off the Cheap Detective role well because it is not far from Columbo for him to play.
It certainly helps to know the source material. The cameos and supporting roles add a charm 35 years later playing the game of "oh...that is so-and-so" as they appear on screen. But if one doesn't know that John Houseman is doing a send up of Sydney Greenstreet's Kasper Gutman then one completely misses out on what is actually going on.
The problem is that there is no real purpose to the story. There is no point. It doesn't have that "edge" that Mel Brook's most successful films\stories had. If you didn't see where this was going you must be young.
That said...I didn't mind watching The Cheap Detective. Will I buy it and add to the movie collection? Probably not. Do I consider it better, same or worse than Murder By Death? Well...it is different because The Cheap Detective only has one lead character to lampoon versus creating the MBD ensemble. I personally like CD over MBD but only because I am more over a ladies man for a movie and CD has more cheesecake in it. That's hardly saying one is better; I think they are basically the same product just done a little bit different.
It certainly is a lot better...though....than the sophomoric material that passes for comedy in today's world.