The Kid Detective – Review

Twenty years after 12-year-old Abe solved the mystery of the missing time capsule and received the key to the city from the mayor, the former “Kid” detective (Brody) is now an aging and forgotten private investigator. Scraping by to pay bills and drowning in self-pity, Abe bumbles through life unsure of himself and how he lost his “smartest man in the world” feeling that he had when cracking neighborhood cases from his treehouse office.

Enter Caroline (Nélisse), a young high-school aged girl whose boyfriend just died. The police have no leads and she is convinced it is murder. As Abe begins his investigation, he is met with apathy and discouraging responses from his family.

The adult nature of the story does seep through the tale, despite some sharp wit and funny lines or situations that arise. The tone runs a bit pessimistic despite the humor, but it’s hard not to have a few chuckles as the tale progresses especially as our “hero” sets himself in scenarios to elicit some disastrous results.

Acting is well done, especially since balancing the tone of serious and funny is hard in this story, as it has both almost whimsical elements and starkly contrasting evil criminal actions. Overall, the quality is there, as the writing, directing and acting are all well done and complimentary.

The story does drive to a fairly dark conclusion, however most viewers that like a good mystery should be somewhat used to that idea.