D: Dan Brown; with Jonny Mars, Juliana Sheffield, Bill Wise.
Dan Brown’s impressive debut feature successfully establishes an unsettling tone that veers between the humorous and the creepy. It tells the story of a young, socially awkward loner, Owen Mercer (Mars), who impulsively responds to a magazine ad and sends away for his credentials to become a private eye. Then, as he graduates into pathologically compulsive behavior, Owen uses the new electronic tools at his disposal to stalk the girl of his dreams. Treated as fodder for dark comedy, Owen’s obsession moves from mere eavesdropping to restraining-order craziness (though, fortunately, his enamored is oblivious to his affections). The movie’s central performances by Jonny Mars, Austin singer Juliana Sheffield, and Bill Wise (as Owen’s screw-loose mentor) are strong. Additionally, several of the cameos come off quite amusingly, though other key supporting characters are saddled with too many stiff clichés to be believable. The story’s climax is also undercut by murkily edited action, but on the whole American Detective‘s 35mm photography (by DP and co-producer Mark Miks) is handsome and supple. American Detective warrants surveillance.
This article appears in October 15 • 1999.
