Cillian Murphy’s Hidden Comedy Talent Shined in This Underrated Rom Com Available on Prime

Summary:

• Back in 2007, Cillian Murphy starred in a romantic comedy, the movie genre which is rarely seen in his filmography.
• The movie follows a film geek falling for a cunning femme fatale, who gives him challenges to go through and to change his life.
• It blends humor, crime elements and features great actors’ chemistry.

The name of the Oppenheimer star is strongly associated with dramas and thrillers, as these genres seem to fit Cillian Murphy best. The actor’s performances are often chillingly stone-cold with him usually playing strong-willed powerful characters, so it’s hard to imagine him smiling or awkwardly joking on the big screen.

However, there is a 2007 hidden gem, which proves Murphy belongs to the genre of comedy and presents him in quite an unexpected role. There he portrayed a quirky video store owner Neil, a cinephil who spends a lot of time living through the movies.

As typical for romcoms, his routine changes when the mysterious Violet walks both into his store and his life. She starts to show him the real world which shines bright behind the movie screen and leads him down a risky road of petty crime.

This movie is obviously worth a watch for Cillian Murphy’s performance. He is so cute and believable in the role of a back-then film buff that all modern Letterboxd bros can easily relate to him and to his perception of the world through the lens of cinema.

Moreover, the romantic aspect is really entertaining, as the local femme fatale, or we’d better say the manic pixie dream girl, played by Kill Bill’s Lucy Liu, perfectly matches Neil’s childish, yet pretentious nature, and the chemistry between them is in the air.

The Bonnie and Clydesque premise doesn’t lie at all, and all the dirty tricks performed by Murphy and Liu’s characters add to the movie’s spectacularity and comedy, a great amount of which comes from the Peaky Blinders actor’s comedic side, which is, disappointingly, rarely seen in his features.

You may have easily missed this movie, titled Watching the Detectives, as it was criticized by the audience back in 2007, which resulted in its underwhelming score of 54% on Rotten Tomatoes, and was later forgotten.

Luckily, Murphy’s Oppenheimer hype reminded people of his other works, including this one. Despite some imperfections of the movie’s plot and quite a predictable finale, it does a great job with comedy and is a must-watch for the actor’s fans.

Stream Watching the Detectives on Prime to see Cillian Murphy in an unusual genre.