A Killer Story

• Niki Boyle
• 29 August 2013

This article is from 2013.

Great noir script let down by poor acting

Here’s the scoop: a private eye is on the case of a missing scientist; he’s presumed murdered, with his dame and his former business partner both in the frame for pulling the trigger. A saxophone purrs like a prostitute in the night as all three step up to say their piece – although none of ‘em seem to want to wait their turn.

Dan Harder – a hard-boiled ‘tec name if ever there was one – has done a bang-up job on the script: each player’s lines falls neatly into the others’ pauses, clicking together like a Swiss watch. The actors themselves are less convincing: jumping through hoops to get their lines in the right places, they end up coming across all stilted and unnatural-like.

They ain’t the only problem – there’s an attempt made to rope that sax into the story when it just don’t fit, while the pointless mention of electronic cigarettes makes the whole thing shudder like a clapped out Buick. Damn shame in the end – with a little work, this coulda been somethin’.

Run ended.