Jasper Clay (Jasper)

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Created by Nathan Hill

In the 2017 indie film Jasper, written, directed, produced and starring (of course) Aussie jack of all trades, Nathan Hill plays JASPER CLAY, an Australian private eye whose imminent retirement is interrupted by a phone call.

Courtney, a gorgeous “working girl,” wants him to find her missing son, supposedly kidnapped by Danver, Courtney’s former pimp. After an impromptu bout of sex to seal the deal, several thugs break into Courtney’s apartment, and kidnap here, knocking Jasper unconscious.

When he regains consciousness, now sporting a large bandage on his forehead, Jasper makes his way to Elmore, a small town apparently mostly inhabited by thugs and nymphomaniacs. I’m not sure, but I think the banged moves to the other side in later shots.

Looking for a Boy Scout? Look elsewhere. This gum-chewing doofus is middle-aged, out of shape and a bit of a punching bag, and usually one or two steps behind whatever’s right in front of him.

Or maybe he’s just really bad at his job. It’s hard to tell. He sits in his car, staking out places for no reason, and then wanders off to ask mostly random questions that don’t so much offer help in his investigation as lead to further sex. Or violence. Or scenes that don’t seem to have anything to do with anything.

It’s all played for laughs, of course, both a send-up and a prime example of about a million cheesy one-man-show P.I. flicks; a sort of low-rent cross between Guy Ritchie and Woody Allen, front-loaded with various women (his client, a motel clerk, a bartender, another bartender, etc.) who inexplicably find the hapless Jasper irresistible and must have sex with him (Right now!), making for an odd but predictable rhythm  (Jasper gets laid, Jasper gets the crap beaten out of him, Jasper gets laid, Jasper gets the crap beaten out of him, repeat).

As an added bonus for caffeine fans, there are more loving closeups of cans of Red Bull than you could possibly imagine. Product porn, or product placement?

The whole things a mess. Still, I must admit I got a kick out of the opening credits, which look like outtakes for Leisure Suit Larry, the adult-themed video game from the eighties. Cheesy, maybe, but also so appropriate.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nathan Hill is an Australian one-man film industry. He acts, writes, produces and directs, and he doesn’t mind pushing a few (or a lot) of buttons along the way. Among his credits? How to Be a Sex Star (2010), The Strange Game of Hyde and Seek (2004), Tomboys (2009), Model Behaviour (2013), Apocalypse Canoe (2014) and Revenge of the Gweilo (2016). He’s even responsible for another P.I. flick, 2018’s  Colorblind.  Hill  has acted in all mediums of the entertainment world, making his stage debut playing Peter Panand his screen debut as a vampire in Queen of the Damned (2002).

FILMS

  • JASPER | Buy the DVD | Buy the Blu-Ray | Watch it now!
    (2010, NHProductions)
    90 minutes
    Written by Nathan Hill & Simon Salmon
    Director by Nathan Hill
    Produced by Nathan Hill
    Director of Photography: Candice Day
    Starring Nathan Hill as JASPER CLAY
    Also starring Sandy Greenwood, Sally Arnott,  Sarah Howett, Tania Wieclaw, Petra Johansson

NOVELIZATIONS

  • Patterson, A.B., Jasper: The Gloves are Off! (2024; by A.B. Patterson) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
    Patterson, sometimes called the “bad boy of Australian crime fiction” is the creator of Sydney P.I. Harry Kenmare.

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

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