No Clue

Decent light fare. Good performances, a plot that holds together.

I didn't recognize the name Brent Butt but was interested in seeing Amy Smart. Now, I wasn't watching the movie so much as I was listening to it and I soon realized that the main character's voice was familiar - I looked up and it was that guy from Corner Gas - Brent Butt. After three seasons of that sitcom I grew weary of the repetition but this was a much better vehicle for Butt's often self-deprecating humor, though I suppose if the movie had gone on much longer it may have become tiresome as well.

The story is, to a degree, predictable but there are enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. The acting is overall good and it of course has that Canadian wholesomeness that doesn't offend. By that I mean there was no going out of the way to ingratiate themselves to special interest groups, or the vulgar.

In the end it's solid movie with flashes of brilliance as well as banality but ultimately landing in the "fun for the whole family" category.

Despite starring (and being written by) Brent Butt, who was the star in the highly rated Canadian sitcom "Corner Gas", "No Clue" was only given a small theatrical release in Canada (and got a very tacky- looking poster to boot.) Watching the movie, it's pretty easy to see why the distributor was not very gung ho. It fails due to one big problem, that being that the movie simply isn't funny. At its best it just gets to be mildly cute, certainly never hilarious or even provoking mild chuckles out of the audience. Much of the humor is written to be pretty predictable and familiar.

Butt's screenplay certainly shoulders most of the blame for the unfunny nature of the movie, but Butt also stumbles in the lead role. His shtick of coming across as a somewhat dumb motormouth gets old very fast, and he quickly becomes somewhat irritating and annoying.

To top it off, while the movie thankfully does not have the tacky and cheap feeling of most other Canadian movies, it all the same has the look and feel of a television production instead of a theatrical movie.

Is there anything good to say about this movie? Well, unlike many Canadian films, it admits to being set in Canada and thankfully at the same time does not make a big deal about it. Though all the same, most Canadians will consider the movie as a whole yet another example of the poor state of the Canadian film industry.

I like all |Canadian movies. I enjoy anything with Brett Butt starring in all things Canadian. So this movie was a perfect combination of Canadian movie with Brett Butt starring in a Canadian movie. The acting of all the actors was really good. I think we have a superior talent pool in Canada. I also think that Brett Butt is very comedic. Seven more lines of text to go. If I were more acquainted with the private detective genre of the 50's, I am sure there are references to movies of this time era. The gumshoe, is the correct word I think. So he played the part perfectly. So did his friend, David Koechner. Of course the diner scene always makes me think of Corner Gas. Enjoyable light hearted fluffy entertainment. Why not?

In Canada, a woman named Kyra (Amy Smart) goes to the office of the middle-aged clumsy salesman Leo Falloon (Brent Butt) by mistake believing that he is a private detective. She hires him to help her to find her missing brother Milles Severeign and Leo is so spellbound by the blonde that he does not tell her that he is not who she is looking for. Leo decides to pose of private detective and he is involved in a complicated scheme of computer game corporations seeking high profits.

"No Clue" is a dark comedy with a good story that deserved a better lead actor. Brent Butt wrote a good screenplay but unfortunately he is neither funny nor pleasant on the screen. The resolution of the murder is not consistent with the character Leo that is not bright. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Nada É o que Parece" ("Nothing Is What Looks Like")