Director: Bruce Sweeney
Screenplay: Bruce Sweeney
Starring: Nicholas Lea, Gabrielle Rose, Agam Darshi, Paul Skrudland, Raphael Kepinski, Jillian Fargey and Tom Scholte
Runtime: 80 minutes
TIFF 2012 Programme: Contemporary World Cinema
Bruce Sweeney’s latest ‘neo-noir’ police procedural film – Crimes of Mike Recket – tells the story of Mike Recket (Nicholas Lea), a once-successful real estate agent who, due to the current financial crisis, has managed to get himself and family into a lot of debt. Due to his mis-handling’s, he’s been separated from his wife, Rose (Agam Darshi). To regain his life, Mike has been trying to come up with a scheme to get quick money. He befriends and seduces a widow, Leslie (Gabrielle Rose), and steals her identity to re-mortgage her house in order to get a few thousand dollars. When detectives begin looking for Leslie, who’s gone missing, Mike’s problems only get worse.
Nicholas Lea does a decent job as Mike; the guy who wants it all: a beautiful house, a young wife, a baby and lots of money. His ego and need to have all these at whatever cost, pushes him to dig himself deeper into trouble. Yet Lea could do more with this character, who is supposed to be selfish and conniving. Perhaps the material is not in the script for him to do so; yet the depth is not all there.
Agam Darshi does a decent job as the younger wife who lets her husband back into her bed the minute he comes with cash. Gabrielle Rose also handles her role as a lonely widow easily. One is left to wonder how she was unable to see Mike’s behaviour as odd and rather pushy. Again, hard to say if this is due to not enough material in the script. The detectives, played by Paul Skrudland and Raphael Kepinski, come across as caricatures at times. Not sure if this was done on purpose, given the ‘noir’ aspect of the film. Somehow, I doubt this is so. The cast does alright but are not too memorable nor do they evoke much sympathy.
The story begins with Mike taken into custody after Leslie disappears. We see what happens to Leslie through flashbacks. What is going on with Mike happens in the present, while the detectives try to piece the story together. In the present, Rose tries to deal with the detectives yet is oblivious to Mike’s scheme. His sister and brother-in-law (Jillian Fargey and Tom Scholte) would rather not get too involved and cannot do much to help Mike.
There are attempts of making this film something out of the 1940’s police films, although at times it is difficult to follow. The lack of cohesiveness is rather tedious. Throughout the film, we come to figure out what Mike’s crimes are a little too soon. The film has a lot of potential as far as police procedural’s go. The elements for a suspenseful story are all there yet the execution lacks luster, the dialogue lacks wit and the pacing of the film certainly takes away much of the merit it could garnish.
Unfortunately, the look of the film is better suited for viewing at home than at the theatre. I understand the film was made with a low budget but something about its look and camera angles do not do it justice. Other low budget films succeed in looking more polished. Having stated all this, there are aspects of the film that have some appeal. If you take the film as a B movie about a selfish, lying wannabe, Crimes works. Let’s not forget, the film is a Canadian production, which we do not see much of. Bruce Sweeney has made other successful films, such as Last Wedding. All in all, Crimes is a film safe to watch at home.
Photo Credit: Toronto International Film Festival
