Wild Canaries
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Screwball Comedy, Marriage and Filmmaking: Lawrence Levine and Sophia Takal on Wild Canaries
A loose-limbed caper comedy that lovingly mashes Hollywood screwball conventions with Brooklyn relationship drama, Lawrence Michael Levine’s sophomore picture, Wild Canaries, tries two things most independent films don’t, and largely succeeds. It’s narratively complex — maybe not Inherent Vice-level, but this mystery thriller about an engaged pair of armchair detectives investigating a possible murder in a rent-controlled apartment is strewn with crosses, double-crosses, disguises and clues. Even more impressively, Wild Canaries shoots for a quality that is often a byproduct of independent cinema but not a goal: entertainment. Inspired, says actor/writer/director Levine, by the “Nick and Nora” Thin Man movies […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 5, 2015 -
Trailer Watch: Wild Canaries Directed by Lawrence Levine
Lawrence Levine’s comedy thriller Wild Canaries is opening February 25 at the IFC Center and on online platforms. Below, from our print magazine, are my comments after the film’s premiere at SXSW. And, check out the trailer above. Most independent films don’t have enough plot. That criticism can’t be leveled at Wild Canaries, Lawrence Michael Levine’s loose-limbed caper comedy. Levine and his wife, the actress and director Sophia Takal, star as a Brooklyn couple who become convinced their upstairs neighbor was murdered to gain control of her rent controlled apartment. Influenced by the “Thin Man” movies as well as Woody Allen’s […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 13, 2015
