The Kid Detective Review: Adam Brody’s Strong Performance Complements Charming Spin on Film Noir
It’s not often that something somewhat refreshing yet comfortable comes along and really charms its way into your brain. I’m a fan of the detective story, both the whodunit and the gritty private eye story, and I am aware how procedural and played out both genres are. In fact, most of the best detective stories have some sort of twist, whether it be goofy yet respectful homage (Knives Out), combining genre conventions (Anon) or some other tract (Memento), it feels more and more like creators are relying on genre merging to prevent the film from feeling unoriginal.
That’s exactly where we find The Kid Detective, directed by first-time director Evan Morgan. I heard about it through Red Letter Media, where they gave the film some of the highest praise I’ve heard them give, and it made me instantly interested in watching it. I was not disappointed.
The film holds on to the tropes of the detective genre, both in the manner of the whodunit and the gritty gumshoe, though it leans much heavier on the latter. It changes the genre in a few key ways: similar to Robert Altman adapting The Long Goodbye to reference the hippy setting of the 1970’s, The Kid Detective puts an emphasis on place and time – specifically small-town living, where everyone knows everyone and someone who is a kid and good at figuring things out can be seen as a local hero. Unlike The Long Goodbye, the hero isn’t a man out of time and place, instead changing the details of the hard-boiled detective in the big city to a soft-boiled underachieving thirtysomething, a very strong one-to-one translation. The detective still detects, drinks, is depressed, and is haunted, the reasons behind all of the ticks and habits are altered in a way that makes it feel organic yet familiar, a fun spin on the typical style.
The crime is also upgraded to reflect the intimate setting. It involves a high profile crime (a murder) in a small town where the lack of resources become the biggest inhibitor to solving the case. The femme walks in, but this time it is not a fatale and it is certainly not intended to be provocative – a high school student looking for the murder of her boyfriend, where our hero has to troll the deep underbelly of the middle-class high-school.
Again, morphing the aesthetics appropriately, we still have the power dynamics of the rich and the poor, the dark side of both the town and the high school. There are people that seem untouchable (the principle, the police, the kids) and there are people who abuse their power. Evan Morgan crafts his movie in a cunning way, providing just enough clues and dangling pieces of evidence to help move the story along and keep the whodunit aspect going up until the ending, which feels perfect for the movie.
None of this would work without the very nuanced performance from Adam Brody. Brody is very much an underrated talent – he has such a natural presence on screen and an engaging charisma that is used to keep you rooting for him as Abe Applebaum even when he’s failing at everything he’s doing. Every acting decision helps to reinforce his past: As a kid, he was the town detective, solving petty crimes for his classmates and parents until one day he became a hero when he found the missing cash box for the school fundraiser. After the success, his secretary – his classmate and crush – went missing, and he wasn’t able to find her. His failure in this caused him to lose confidence in himself as a detective, and there is this persistent feeling that he has some inhibitor on him that prevents him from reaching his full potential.
Adam Brody plays this as though he is the most pathetic detective that is actually decent at his job. It’s incredible how well Abe does just enough actual good detective work toward solving the case, since he ends up failing or bullshitting an answer more times than he actually analyzes a clue successfully. There is a world-weariness that Brody personifies in his performance with just enough youthful inhibition that makes him seem somewhat adult and completely immature.
All of this is aided by a very carefully calibrated look. You won’t find too many amazing camera moves, but the colors throughout the movie are pleasant enough, and while the film is desaturated (both to pay homage as well as reflect the character’s inner disillusionment and depression), the actual look of the movie really nails the small-town vibe.
The Kid Detective is a fantastic little movie that has equal amounts comedy, drama, mystery, and suspense, and it is overflowing with charm. It’s a decent mystery thriller and a really great time at the movies.
Rating: Shiny and Chrome
