IMDb plot summary: A once-celebrated kid detective, now 32, continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity; until a naive client brings him his first 'adult' case to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend.
Directed by Evan Morgan. Stars Kaitlyn Chalmers-Rizzato, Adam Brody, and Kaleb Horn.
The Kid Detective is a hypothetical gritty, grown-up sequel to Encyclopedia Brown: what if the boy genius detective grows up, finds the one case he can't solve, and life falls apart. It's a concept that could have been painfully gimmicky, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that they pretty much nail the execution. Adam Brody is perfectly cast as the main character, playing just the right mix of weary depression and lingering boyish idealism to make the tone work. The tone is key here, by the way, and it walks a tricky line between dark comedy and genuine tragedy, shifting from absurd humor to moments of real emotional weight without losing its way. By the time the final mystery is wrapped up, was both funnier and sadder than I thought it might be. The Kid Detective turns what could have been a one-joke premise into something both enjoyable and oddly touching. What an interesting surprise.
How it entered my Flickchart:
🎥 The Kid Detective (2020)
📊 Ranked #820/4070 on my Flickchart
🎯 Flickscore™: 81
beat Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (#2032 → #2033)
beat Pig (#1015 → #1022)
lost to Her (#508 → #521)
beat Winter Light (#761 → #1104)
lost to School of Rock (#634 → #635)
lost to Autumn Sonata (#697 → #703)
lost to The Talented Mr. Ripley (#729 → #698)
beat Super (#745 → #753)
lost to Cats (#737 → #740)
beat Spotlight (#741 → #732)
beat Coherence (#739 → #738)
lost to Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (#738 → #760)
No comments:
Post a Comment