"Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" works as both a spoof of Noir films and a tribute to old Hollywood. I don't think I've seen a comedy quite like it because while the film has an original story, it's made by combining original footage of Steve Martin and other actors with clips from vintage Noir films. Yes, technically this 1982 film also stars Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Joan Crawford and more. Their scenes, taken out of context, now have a completely different meaning. The film begins when private investigator Rigby Beardon (Martin) is hired by a woman named Juliet Forrest (Rachel Ward) to investigate her father's death. With the advice of his mentor Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart from "The Big Sleep"), a slew of witnesses and some unsuspected deductions, Rigby hopes to solve the crime.
Steve Martin and Rachel Ward are both very funny in a story that's entertaining even if you're not familiar with the tropes of old gumshoe films, or if you haven't seen any of the numerous films from which footage is borrowed. Taking the scenes from other, older films and splicing them in with modern actors is really clever and in my opinion a bit ahead of its time. You see it done over and over now with the youtubes and the gifs on the internets, but this picture takes it to a whole new level. What I enjoyed best is that it gave me an extra nudge of inspiration to seek out the films and introduce me to some faces I should keep an eye out for when looking at staple pictures of the genre. If you're a big fan of the genre, I think you should seek this one out. You'll probably have an even greater appreciation for it than I did, and I had a great time. I could even see this film having some decent re-watch value, as you would likely get a kick out of seeing it after you've viewed all of the films it borrows from. It probably gets even funnier when you know the context in which all of those lines are said. The splicing is seamless too, so even though you might notice the drop in picture quality, you won't be pulled out of the movie. That’s really the key to making this gimmick work (it may be a welcome one, but it's a gimmick nonetheless) It's a really original comedy that's tons of fun and really cleverly written so check it out. (On DVD, January 2, 2013)
There is a problem with your e-mail address and we are unable to communicate with you. Please go to My Account to update your email.
Please choose a username to sign your comments. Only letters, digits, dash - or period. Minimum 4 characters.
Your age and sex:
We publish all comments, except abusive, at our discretion.