Directed by Graham Mason

Written by Graham Mason and Ikechukwu Ufomadu

Starring Ikechukwu Ufomadu, Matt Barats, Ana Fabrega, Grace Rex, John Early, Aparna Nancherla, Anthony Oberbeck, Jessica Damouni, and Stavros Halkias

With its quirky sense of humor, this takes its Columbo- and The Naked Gun-esque tale of murder down a stylistic and endearing path that gets quite a few chuckles out of me. I’ll admit that the first five or so minutes do cause me to arch an eyebrow, though. I can tell right away that this is devoting itself to a very specific flavor of absurdist comedy that exists in a slightly tweaked version of our reality—a timeless version that feels like it popped out of a period from a few decades ago, with the phones being a neat little touch. The ways in which people talk and interact with each other is all crafted within this odd dimension, and it will depend on your tastes when it comes to how you vibe with what this movie does to mine humor out of that dimension. For me, as much as I’m feeling somewhat unsure during those first few minutes, I’m then able to realize that I can click with the energy being set up by director Graham Mason (who also wrote the script with Ikechukwu Ufomadu, AKA Inspector Ike) and the cast.

I can picture this movie being handled so clumsily in different hands that could have carried out the tone in a flat and cringey fashion. It could have failed to get me invested in this strange environment and the people who inhabit it. But instead, it flourishes with the ingredients it’s got in hand to be a charmingly offbeat and funny ride, with Ike’s shadow adjusting a painting standing out as one of my favorite gags. “One of those plumbers might wanna steal your pipes,” followed by a ba-dum-TSSS! is great, too. So are the “probably a sociopath” card and Harry’s atrocious wig. It all works because every single one of these actors completely buys into this tale and their characters. They’re not ironically winking at us viewers under Mason’s direction. Nope, they earnestly commit to the bit, making it easier to perceive this reality as a believable one. Purely on a visual scale, I appreciate it as well, using elements like the cinematography, set design, and costume design to capture a comforting mood that meshes with the aforementioned timelessness of this little bubble in which the howcatchem unfolds.

The only major criticism I really have is that I would have loved to spend more time with Ike himself. I actually haven’t seen Columbo before, but I’m still aware of the howcatchem road that it uses, and I’m curious if watching that show would have prepared me better for how this film unfolds (though I did watch the first season of Poker Face a while ago, and that achieves its own Columbo-inspired objective). In any case, this spends a significant amount of time with Harry, and hey, he’s such an amusingly devious type who Matt Barats excels at bringing to life. But there does come a point where I’m going, “Wait, shouldn’t we be spending more time with Ike?” Thankfully, he becomes more prominent in the second half of the runtime as he comes closer to capturing the murderer, with Ufomadu superbly playing it straight and infusing Ike with a quiet and relentless confidence. Still, though, I would have been all up for exploring the interiority of his character, considering that’s what this movie accomplishes for Harry. We get a psychological lens for his POV as he wrestles with an increasing amount of guilt and anxiety over the blood that he’s spilled, and it’s just plain darkly funny while additionally fleshing him out into a human being that I can grasp onto. I don’t quite have that same intimate view of Ike, and it leaves me wishing I could have gotten a more insightful peek into his personal space.

Overall, Inspector Ike has turned out to be another successful movie recommendation from James over at Movie Good or Movie Bad? You should give this a shot if it sounds like it’s up your alley. Even if its brand of comedy ends up not hitting your sweet spot, it’s still worth seeing what it’s reaching out for.

Final rating: 4 out of 5 stars