Watching the Detectives (2007)

Director:

Paul Soter

Writer:

Paul Soter (written by)

Release Date:

11 September 2008 (Russia)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Sometimes love is stranger than fiction

Plot:

A film noir buff has his life turned on end by a femme fatale with a big adventure in mind.

Plot Keywords:

Film Geek | Underwater Scene | TV Commercial | Bathtub | Obscene Finger Gesture

Cast

Cillian Murphy	...	Neil
Lucy Liu	...	Violet
Jason Sudeikis	...	Jonathan
Michael Panes	...	Lucien
Callie Thorne	...	Marcia
Michael Yurchak	...	Buddy
Heather Burns	...	Denise
Mark Harelik	...	Detective Barloe
Ali Reza	...	Detective Lowenstein
Josh Pais	...	Andy
Brett Gelman	...	Glenn
Lonny Ross	...	Eager Customer
Paul Scheer	...	Annoying Customer
Richard Waddingham	...	Dennis - Bald Giant
J. T. O'Connor	...	Bald Creep
Joel Garland	...	Bald Customer (as Joel Marsh Garland)
Erik Stolhanske	...	Chad
Daniel Raymont	...	Commercial Guy
Jack Bethke	...	Bouncer
Bryan Paulk	...	Frisbee Guy
Katie Davidson	...	Frisbee Girl
Dennis Gubbins	...	Jay
Rohit Sang	...	Media Giant Clerk
Tara Orr	...	Millie (as Tara Lynn Orr)
Steve Lemme	...	Waiter
Anthony St. James	...	Gary Leathers
Josh Gad	...	Mark
Connor Fox	...	Craig
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Matthew Backer	...	Cool Bro (uncredited)
Alix Elias	...	Waitress (uncredited)
Lou Irizarry	...	Umpire (uncredited)
Jason Evans Lee	...	Angry Customer (uncredited)
Annie Roig	...	Customer (uncredited)

Directed by
Paul Soter

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Paul Soter		written by

Produced by
Carina Alves	....	co-producer
Bill Benenson	....	executive producer
John Flock	....	executive producer
Pamela Hirsch	....	co-producer
Gary Howsam	....	executive producer
Galt Niederhoffer	....	producer
Celine Rattray	....	producer
Irving Schwartz	....	executive producer
Reagan Silber	....	producer
Randy Simon	....	executive producer
Daniela Taplin Lundberg	....	producer
Lewin Webb	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Nathan Barr

Cinematography by
Christophe Lanzenberg		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Jeff Canavan

Production Design by
John Nyomarkay

Set Decoration by
Tora Peterson

Costume Design by
Kurt and Bart

Makeup Department
Brian Abbott	....	makeup department head
Erin Ayanian	....	makeup artist: Lucy Liu & Cillian Murphy
Colleen Callaghan	....	hair department head: Lucy Liu Personal
Stephanie Pasicov	....	additional makeup artist
Joseph Whitmeyer	....	key hair stylist
Elizabeth Gerbino	....	makeup intern (uncredited)

Production Management
Beau J. Genot	....	post-production supervisor
Peter Pastorelli	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nicholas R. Bell	....	second assistant director
Anthony Blanco	....	second second assistant director
Mariela Comitini	....	first assistant director
Jason Fesel	....	second second assistant director
Andrea Roa	....	additional second assistant director

Art Department
Paul Ahern	....	storyboard artist
Lauren Baron	....	art department intern
Michael Cory	....	assistant property master
Thomas A. Delillo	....	lead set dresser
Shannon Finnerty	....	on-set dresser
Jonathan Huggins	....	carpenter
Abbey Katz	....	graphic artist
Vanessa Merrill	....	art department coordinator
Chris Potter	....	property master
Erica Torres	....	art department production assistant

Sound Department
Steven Avila	....	sound effects editor
Trip Brock	....	supervising sound editor
Adam De Coster	....	foley artist
Michael J. Fox	....	adr supervisor
Ken Ishii	....	sound mixer
Peter D. Lago	....	sound effects editor
Greg Mauer	....	foley mixer
Greg Morgenstein	....	adr recordist
Eric Reuveni	....	adr mixer
Jonathan Rimas	....	adr mixer
Mark A. Rozett	....	sound re-recording mixer
Steven Utt	....	transfer engineer
Kelly Vandever	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ben Whitver	....	first assistant sound editor
Julie Wilde	....	boom operator
Brian S.M. Wroth	....	dialogue editor

Visual Effects by
David Tecson	....	visual effects

Stunts
David Shumbris	....	stunts
Manny Siverio	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Mark Beattie	....	best boy electric
Manuel Billeter	....	camera operator
Maceo Bishop	....	Steadicam operator
Jess Fogel	....	electrician
Shawn Greene	....	gaffer
Rick Griggs	....	key grip
Nicholas Hahn	....	assistant camera
Mark T. Karinja	....	electrician
Ludovic Littee	....	assistant camera
Daniel Luebke	....	additional grip
Brian C. Mackey	....	film loader
Nick Maczka	....	additional grip
Matthew Mendelson	....	electrician
Jessica Miglio	....	still photographer
Jeff Niggemeyer	....	electrician
Joseph Paolini	....	best boy grip
Nicole Rivelli	....	still photographer
Randy Schwartz	....	second assistant camera
Simon Shen	....	electrician
Walter Strafford	....	additional grip
Sean Taylor	....	electrician
Travis Tips	....	electrician
Vance Tucker	....	third grip
Casey Wooden	....	grip

Casting Department
Meredith Jacobson	....	extras casting
Laura Verbeke	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Colleen McTigue	....	key costumer
Amy Pickering	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Matthew W. Johnson	....	IQ artist
Lance Spindler	....	color timer

Music Department
Ryan Amon	....	composer: additional music
Kyle Kenneth Batter	....	composer: additional music
Allison Wright Clark	....	co-music supervisor
Mark Petrie	....	composer: additional music
Joel J. Richard	....	additional source music
Adam Sanborne	....	composer: additional music
Mark Skillingberg	....	music editor
Michael Suby	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
John A. Accardo	....	production assistant
Robyn Alcock	....	production office coordinator
Adi Amit	....	production secretary
Steve Boyle	....	post-production accountant: JFA, Inc.
Mia Bruno	....	set intern
Nicole Bukowski	....	accounting clerk
Alvin Charles	....	set intern
Carol A. Compton	....	script clearance
Steve Faughnan	....	location scout
Claude Forest	....	insurance broker
Dan Gloeckner	....	set production assistant
Erika Goldfarb	....	office production assistant
Marshall Johnson	....	location manager
Sara Lane	....	production accountant
Andrew Lang	....	assistant to director
Leonard Mah	....	set intern
Stephanie A. Marquardt	....	script supervisor
Trinidy McMahon	....	set production assistant
Craig Peck	....	production assistant
Anthony Michael Salerno	....	set intern
Rob van de Laar	....	craft service
Chad Williams	....	location assistant
Shane Williams	....	assistant location manager

Thanks
Ralph R. Cioffi	....	thanks
Lou Coulson	....	thanks
Michael A. Feder	....	thanks
Kevin Heffernan	....	thanks
Keya Khayatian	....	thanks
Steve Lemme	....	thanks
Erik Stolhanske	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Plum Pictures
• Peace Arch Entertainment Group
• Hart-Lunsford Pictures

Distributors

• Empire (2008) (Romania) (all media)
• Peace Arch Entertainment Group (2008) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Peace Arch Entertainment Group (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• Peace Arch Releasing (2008) (USA) (theatrical)
• G2 Pictures (2009) (UK) (all media)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2008) (Thailand) (DVD)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2009) (Taiwan) (all media)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2009) (Vietnam) (DVD)
• Officine UBU (2008) (Italy) (all media)
• Splendid Film (2008) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• All-Star Animals  animal handlers
• Cutting Edge Group  music services
• Eisner & Frank  production legal
• IndieClear  script clearance
• Mayflower Studios  adr recording studio
• Monkeyland Audio  sound post-production
• Soundtrack  ADR Facility
• United Talent Agency (UTA)  domestic sales

Runtime:

Poland:90 min (DVD version) | USA:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (one scene) | Color

Certification:

Germany:6 | USA:Not Rated | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Bayonne, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Plum Pictures

Trivia:

The title of the film is taken from a 1977 Elvis Costello song, from the album "My Aim Is True".

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Violet says she doesn't have a driver's license, but she still manages to drive a car to Neil's house. However, she may have told Neil that she didn't have a driver's license just to see how he'd react, just like almost everything else she did to him.

Movie Connections:

References Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948)

Soundtrack:

BEER CAN PYRAMID

a romantic comedy which is not interesting enough

The only reason I gave it a 6/10 is because Cillian Murphy is always a good performer.He is the only one to watch in this movie. But for an actor of his range, it is still disappointing. I thought that it could be a different type of romantic comedy,- it started interestingly enough- but after you got the point of this girl (Lucy Liu) being "nuts", it is going nowhere. I smiled, maybe, once.The rest of the time I just waited for something to happen. Lucy Liu is not charming enough in this kind of pranks, because she is not a teenager, or sweet, and she is not convincing. I really like her, but she was better in action movies, or playing a more serious character. I didn't find a great chemistry between them. I think that the director and the stars tried to make it work because a story about this weird guy who lives a boring life unlike in the movies he watches (big surprise here...), falling for this 'border-line con'/ grasshopper,- sounded like an appealing and funny idea of a movie - but it didn't work. not for me, anyway.I also have a feeling that this kind of plot was done before, and it worked better.