This offbeat feature debut from director Stephen Frears (MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE, DANGEROUS LIAISONS, THE GRIFTERS) cleverly satirizes the detective films of the past, particularly those featuring the hardboiled private eyes created by Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.
Finney, a bingo caller in a seedy Liverpool nightclub who envisions himself as a tough detective a la Humphrey Bogart, advertises his sleuthing services and is hired by a mysterious fat man (Silver). After receiving a package containing a photo of a young woman (Seymour), a gun and a thousand
pounds--but no instructions--Finney becomes enmeshed in an extraordinarily convoluted affair t...
Released:
1971
Rated:
PG
Length:
88 mins