Wild Canaries
Mar 06 - Mar 12, 2015
(Lawrence Michael Levine, United States, 2014, 99 min, DCP)
Seattle premiere!
Filmmakers in attendance March 12!
Director Lawrence Michael Levine (Gabi on the Roof in July) describes his Brooklyn-set madcap detective-style murder comedy as "50% screwball, 50% suspense.”
Husband and wife filmmaking team Sophia Takal (Green) and director Lawrence Michael Levine star as recently engaged but perpetually bickering couple Barri and Noah. The characters are based in part on their own relationship mixed with a pinch of Mulder and Sully. When their elderly downstairs neighbor suddenly kicks the bucket, the flighty Barri immediately suspects foul play. Cue a hilariously harebrained investigation as Barri—outfitted in a Columbo-style trench coat—enlists her secretly-in-love-with-her lesbian roommate (Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat) to help her get to the bottom of the matter.
With brass flourishes in its score and witty one-lingers, Wild Canaries is proper throwback to murder mystery and date movie classics and packed with references to films and shows like The Thin Man, The French Connection, What's Up Doc? Scooby Doo, and Mangum P.I.