GENRE | Adam Brody Solves 'The Kid Detective' in Adulthood

"Experience is overrated."

Stage 6 Films / LevelFilm

Canadian filmmaker and The Dirties co-writer/producer Evan Morgan makes his directorial debut in the twisted comic mystery The Kid Detective. Adam Brody stars as a real Encyclopedia Brown-type boy detective all grown up and washed out looking to redeem his adulthood failures by channelling his now faded childhood glory.

Morgan's simultaneously sunny yet dark film zips along with a fun but earnest pace to it throughout. Brody's honest but dour performance fits its mostly serious tone despite the right amount of amusing jokes about the general idea of a kid detective who grows up to be a shadow of his former self. Everyone commits to the basic farce of a premise to establish the whole town private eye concept where an amateur P.I. tries to investigate a disappearance and murder.

Co-starring actresses Sophie Nélisse and Sarah Sutherland, both as foils to Brody's Abe Applebaum (notice the alliterative) as his client and secretary, the cast gives off a friendly neighbourhood feel mirroring the sour brightness of The Kid Detective's setting. Brody plays off them and the rest of the smalltown cast of characters well. It helps how the film's general sunny optimism makes Abe feel all the more depressive while heightening his determination to get past his childhood peak.

Brody charms by initially resisting his natural comic appeal but still letting it linger in a sardonic performance that balances its tricky tones. Ostensibly a fairly serious detective mystery, there are some fairly high crimes looking to be solved yet the dark humour and satirical edge subvert the kid-friendly gumshoe genre as everything plays out well together.


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