Watching the Detectives

Neil (Cillian Murphy) is running a small video rental shop in a nameless American suburb when his life is overwhelmed by Violet (Lucy Liu), a customer who he starts dating after she steals a $50 deposit and persuades him to raid the premises of a competitor. Neil somewhat reluctantly leaves his comfortable world of geeky friends and film noir screenings to embrace Violet's increasingly madcap, film-inspired pranks. Well-scripted and confidently acted, it's a gentle and surprisingly engaging film which sidesteps the obvious traps with some attitude. "Why are you doing this to me Violet, why are you like this?" Neil asks; Violet replies that she is just protecting herself against potential relationship boredom: "A year or 15 months before you get restless, before you start to look at your girlfriend like she's an old, comfortable shoe." Released at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007, the film went straight to DVD. It isn't brilliant, but it's 90 minutes of entertainment, and the pair are charismatic enough to see out an unlikely plot and set this film above other current romantic comedies.

* Rosemary Behan