I’m guessing most of you starting the post are scratching your head saying, ‘What the hell is ‘The Kid Detective?’ and the rest of you, the ones who have been fortunate enough to see it are here primarily to check if I’m right. Welcome all.
The Kid Detective is a 2020 crime-drama from writer/director Evan Morgan that mixes in bits of black comedy and some rather poignant moments of self-reflection. It stars Adam Brody as a man in his thirties who had his best years in school as a successful–you guessed it–kid detective, now with an opportunity to redeem himself. It’s a modest little film that barely got a release and sort of ended up drifting in steaming no-mans-land. That’s too bad, as it’s a genuinely original offer with some strong performances, plenty of twists, and smart script. Here’s 5 reasons to give it a look.
5 It’s Ambiguous Time
While you’re never really wondering all the much while watching when or where the story takes place, there is this odd somewhat disjointed feeling of timelessness throughout. Brody plays Abe Applebaum, who as a child in middle school, was a whiz at cracking small ‘crimes’ and ‘mysteries’ at school and in the neighborhood. He’s so good at it, the mayor of the small community of Willowbrook, gives him a permanent office and even staffs it with his kid daughter (more on her in a moment). The thing is, the village seems stuck in a wonderful bit of fantasy where there is modern technology with computers and smartphones and such, but no one seems to use them all that much. Kids in one house have their own desktops but they only play Pong. A girl checks social media but gets her news from the paper. Several modern cars are seen but one of the main characters drives a 1987 Chrysler LeBaron Coupe convertible, which appears to be in very good condition. There’s plenty more if you pay attention, and it gives the movie this ethereally ambiguity that greatly supports the story’s theme of confusion and loss.
4 The Mayor’s Daughter
Okay, her. I’ll have to be careful here as Gracie (Kaitlyn Chalmers-Rizzato), while barely in the film, is central to well, everything. She opens the film, this angelic looking middle school kid with a fresh face, big smile, bubbling with innocence, walking home from school, and then … something happens. I won’t say what, but it lingers on the story everywhere, hovering in the corners like a specter, guiding much of what motivates and more often, crumbles Abe. As things progress, no matter how involved we are with Abe’s latest adventure, Morgan keeps us thinking of Gracie throughout. She is why everything is as it is, and more so why number 5 exists on this list. Time sort of stopped working right when Gracie starts the movie.
3 Skipping Expectations
Okay, subverting expectations in a genre films like this is not all that new. However, Morgan finds ways to build to a moment that feels just about complete, like we know exactly where it’s going to go, and then steer it in another direction. I know, I just described exactly what subverting expectations is, but Morgan doesn’t careen them into something wildly unexpected, but rather gently eases them to the side where we’re like, “Wait. Did that just happen?” He’s so good at it, that you begin to expect that things will be unexpected, only to have the story trip it up again. An extended scene in a house where Abe has become trapped in closets (yes, multiple closets) is payoff to something just about forgotten earlier … and ends in a moment that has the right consequences. A showdown in a bar has the beats right in place to give Abe the authority he requires but then, in literally a single word, becomes something different. It’s smart, funny, tragic, and shouldn’t work at all, but does in truly creative and imaginative ways.
2 Abe
I suppose it’s easy to say the main character is really good. You should watch for him. Duh. Most movies are like that. Yet, there is something about what Brody gives to Abe that I find deeply effecting. He manages to carry on his shoulders the history of Abe’s celebrated past on his now disgraced present like a shifting crown. With zero dignity, he retains all the glory of his childhood but in an unpleasant and nearly cringeworthy manner as he struggles to be the man he thinks he’s supposed to be. Who they all think he’s supposed to be. Abe is a defeated but refuses to leave the ring, and as such, becomes a stain on the very thing he once made glorious. Is there any hope for salvation? This is the true wonder of Morgan’s script, that we know, inside this battered man, lies something at his core that can reset his destiny. It’s part of the conventions of stories like this after all. But let’s not forget number 3 on this list and see how it impacts number 1.
1 Abe in the End
Don’t worry. I won’t spoil the end (I even hesitated posting this image). But I urge you to watch and pay attention to the introduction of Abe as an adult and the entrance of his parents (Jonathan Whittaker and Wendy Crewson), then compare it to the end of the film when the same thing happens. Notice where they sit and what they ask. Then watch Abe in the final frame. The Kid Detective is not a feel good movie. It’s not a downer either. That’s the magic little line that Morgan has so wonderfully balanced his story on. I’ve watched this movie three times now in less than a month. It gets better each with every viewing because of the ending. Gracie is everything.