Darkness Lies Beneath the Surface

Kids of a certain age more than likely get into YA mysteries. I mean, I assume at this point that the likes of Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys are still read. I’m no longer a child but I remember those books (the Encyclopedia Brown ones, anyway), and they were fun. Light, easy to read mysteries that act as a gateway for an entire genre. You can go from those books to the likes of Sherlock HolmesOften cited as the world's greatest (fictional) detective, this character was introduced in 1887 (in A Study in Scarlet) and has gone on to appear in hundreds of stories, films, shows, and more. and then even more dark and interesting murder mysteries. One leads to the other and it’s a natural progression.

But it’s not often that we really think about these characters existing outside of their stories. Encyclopedia Brown will always be a series of kid-lit novels about a 12 year old solving small crimes around his neighborhood, but at some point that kid had to have grown up, right? If he were a real person he’d eventually become 13, and then 14, and reach puberty, graduate high school, become an adult, and at that point would he still be solving mysteries? Would we, as an audience, even like him as much if he were solving mysteries into his forties?

That’s the basic premise behind The Kid Detective, which is a movie about a kid who becomes famous solving little crimes around his town, only to then get a big case he couldn’t solve. Years later he’s still trying to make a go of it at being a detective when everyone around him – family, roommates, people on the street – think he should have dropped the whole deal and moved on. It’s amusing and sad in equal measure and it kind of shows what would happen to these kids, for real, if they had to keep on existing after their series of kid-lit books finally ended.

The detective in question is Abe Applebaum (Adam Brody), a man well into his thirties (Brody was 40 when this movie released) who is still desperately clinging to his life as a detective, long after it stopped being cute. As a kid he solved a series of small crimes, like lost pets, missing candy, stolen bikes, all before landing a “big case” in the form of missing funds from a school fundraiser. Using his deductive skills he surmises that the school bully was the one that likely stole the money, and when the money is then found in the bully’s possession (money box and all), Abe is proven right.

Things took a turn soon after, though, when Abe’s best friend, Gracie Gulliver, went missing. Everyone in town assumed Abe would be the one to find her, but the weeks stretched on, became months, and then years, and Abe never got any closer on the case. Eventually people stopped calling Abe for help, and the local cop, Constable Cleary (Maurice Dean Wint), told Abe to keep his nose out of police business. All these years later, though, redemption comes in the form of Caroline (Sophie Nélisse), a high school student looking for someone to help her investigate the murder of her boyfriend. Although still feeling unqualified, Abe takes the case, and it might just be the big one he needs to save his business… and his soul.

The Kid Detective starts amusingly enough. Although, yes, Gracie disappears and it’s thought that she was snatched off the street by a kidnapper (which is dark moment for the opening of the film), we then dive deep into Abe’s life as the film contrasts the sad-sack man he’s become against the bright and shiny kid he used to be. The film finds plenty of humor to mine from this, with Brody perfectly playing a guy that, by all rights, should have completely given up on life (and very nearly has), all while a new case stumbles into his lap.

Brody is really the power behind this film. His performance is perfect, pathetic and desperate and yet filled with a low-simmering rage. He’s angry at his life, at what he’s become, but mostly he’s angry about the big case, the Gracie case, he never could solve. This all weighs on him, and you feel it all in his performance. Brody takes what could be a very silly character, a grown up kid detective, and makes him into someone that feels very real, and very sad. The film needs that at its core to make everything work.

Brody’s Abe is a touch of realism in a film that would feel strange and idyllic otherwise. It would take a very specific kind of small town to support a kid (and not kid) detective like Abe, letting him prosper as a youth and then still letting him linger as an adult. Only in fiction could this kind of thing actually take place (which is why you don’t hear about real kid detectives actually making a go of it in the real world), so having Brody ground it with his sad-sack, put-upon character makes it feel less fake, less twee and silly. Brody really carries this film.

And that realism he brings is essential, especially when the film gets dark. Yes, this is a movie about a murder, and yes it opens with a girl disappearing, but by and large the film tries to play itself for laughs. When it takes a turn late in the movie, though, as Abe closes in on the killer and discovers more about the case (no spoilers), the film feels like it hits a real tonal shift. If Abe were a happy-go-lucky guy, this shift in tone wouldn’t work. But because Abe is a sad-sack grounding the film, the dark turn works better in context.

It’s a sad note that the film builds to, and while it’s shocking in the moment, you realize that the film has been building to it this whole time. A kid detective is only cute when they’re solving little crimes and mysteries. But when they’re put on a case about kidnapping, or murder, well they aren’t nearly so cute. The Kid Detective embraces that contrast, highlighting what would happen if a kid detective actually did exist and what their life, and cases, would be like as the years went on. It’s not cute; it’s sad and dark and depressing, and at a certain point The Kid Detective embraces that.

I think the way the film builds to its climax, and everything that comes after, is brilliant. Writer / director Evan Morgan really understands this scenario that’s been crafted, and embraces all the aspects of the kid-lit genre as he then matures the character up and shines a light on the strangeness of it all. The film goes from funny, to sad, to dark and twisted, and it’s a tonal shift that many might not like, but in the context of the story it works really well. It’s a perfect thought exercise fleshed out to its natural conclusion, and you have to embrace to get the vibe.

The Kid Detective is solid, but you have to go in knowing that it’s not going to just be a wacky comedy. This is a film with something specific to say about the genre. These kid-lit detectives entertain youths, but at a certain point their stories can’t continue because the world is darker and meaner than their stories could allow. Spinning them out into a real scenario makes for a crueler story and, in the end, The Kid Detective embraces that. If you understand that going in, you might very well be able to enjoy the film on its many solid merits.