Film Noirs are interesting. They bring you back in time, kind of. But what really makes them interesting? Their muted colours? The jazzy music? The fact that everyone is wearing suits and hats? I investigated one myself. The particular one I checked out was called Pocket Full of Nuts, directed and produced by a fine fellow named David Prokopchuk. It’s a film noir, has all the aspects to it. The story is about Detective Petard (Garry MacLean) dealing with a major debt as he hasn’t been paying bills for a seemingly long time. He’s dreading the possibility of eviction, unless he can find employment in the 8-hour a day range. But before he calls it a night, an opportunity in the shape of a beautiful dame named Amy (Caroline Buzanko) comes through his door, with a potential case. She explains that her husband died from eating peanuts, his arch-enemy due to the cause of allergies. So the private eye heads out and treats us to a narrated montage as he drives and walks around the city, looking for anything but clues to the case and telling the dame’s story. Eventually, he finds himself talking to a man called the Producer (Chengis Javeri), who may have been the cause for the peanut-laced murder. While all the clues in the office point to him, one has to debate if the Producer had really done it.
This film was well-arranged. It combined comedy elements into a film noir which is something that’s barely seen. When it comes to mixing genres, it always brings out fascinating results. The characters are well portrayed, and story was one of the amusing I have seen this year. But the film also provides a very interesting message that most people don’t fully acknowledge these days when it comes to gender. Of course, it also provides the message that no matter what the evidence, things aren’t always what they seem. It’s not always possible to decipher clues, because a case could be harder than it looks.