One-man P.I. Shows
What is it about the private eye genre that attracts so many filmmakers intent on doing it all themselves?
Is there something about the genre itself that feeds some sort of DIY, man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, macho hunger? Is it about control? Money? Ego? Is it simply a deep, abiding enthusiasm, if not love, for the genre? Or is it just a way to get babes?
Some of these one-man shows (and it’s almost always men) are pretty good, but not always. Some of the results are simply inept, cliché-filled cheesefests (“Quick! Break out the fedoras and trench coats!”) that, back in the day, used to go straight to cable or video, and now lurk in the depths of streaming.
Typically in these alternative classics, the writer/director also gets to play the shamus, and the shamus usually gets to bed at least one (and often more) beautiful women. And when their films are criticized of being more grating than great, the standard defense is that they weren’t meant to be taken seriously, but were “parodies.”
Uh-huh.
Granted, not all of these are cheesefest, but proceed with caution…
- A LOW DOWN DIRTY SHAME (1994)
Written, directed and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans - THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION (2001, Dreamworks)
Written, directed and starring Woody Allen - LOOKING FOR KITTY (2004, Marlboro Road Gang)
Written, directed and starring Edward Burns - XENOBITES (2008, Wild Dogs Production)
Written, directed and starring Michael Fredianelli - TROUBLE IS MY BUSINESS (2017, Lumen Actus)
Written, directed and starring Tom Konkle - COLORBLIND (2019, NH Productions)
Written, directed and starring Nathan Hill - MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN (2019, Warner Bros.)
Written, directed and starring Edward Norton (based on the novel by Jonathan Lethem) - JASPER (2010, NHProductions)
Written, directed, produced and starring Nathan Hill
Preliminary list compiled by Kevin Burton Smith. Further suggestions greatly appreciated.
