The Kid Detective

Directed by Evan Morgan, The Kid Detective follows Adam Brody’s Abe Applebaum, a once-celebrated child investigator, as he agrees to look into the mysterious murder of a local high schooler. Filmmaker Morgan, armed with his own screenplay, delivers a consistently watchable drama that grows more and more compelling as it progresses, and there’s little doubt, certainly, that the movie’s mostly above-average atmosphere is due in no small part to Brody’s lived-in and completely captivating turn as the sympathetic central character – with the actor’s top-notch work elevating the proceedings on a constant basis and, more importantly, compensating for the few lulls within the erratically-paced narrative. It’s clear, then, that the quirkiness with which Morgan has infused the proceedings is rarely as problematic as one might’ve feared, although Jay McCarrol’s predominantly overbearing and flat-out distracting score does, generally speaking, prevent the viewer from wholeheartedly embracing the material. Such concerns, however, become moot as The Kid Detective rolls into its confident and genuinely surprising third act, as Morgan, having upended the viewer’s expectations to an admittedly impressive degree, ensures that the picture ultimately concludes on an effective (and affecting) note that confirms its place as a solid debut for a promising filmmaker.

*** out of ****

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