Trouble Is My Business Movie Review

Trouble Is My Business: A Love Letter to Noir, Steeped in Smoke and Shadows "Trouble Is My Business" is a 2018 neo-noir film that takes us back to the gritty glamour of 1940s detective cinema. Directed and co-written by Tom Konkle, the film is a passionate homage to the classics, filled with sharp dialogue, femme fatales, and a mystery that twists like a cigarette curl in the stale air of a nightclub. The story centers around Roland Drake (played by Konkle himself), a down-on-his-luck private eye drowning in cheap whiskey and bad decisions. When a sultry dame named Katherine Montemar walks into his office, his world gets turned upside down. She hires him to find her missing father, but soon Roland finds himself entangled in a web of lies, double-crosses, and a cursed diamond called the "Orlov." Critics have praised the film's atmosphere, noting its meticulous recreation of the noir aesthetic. The black-and-white cinematography is sumptuous, with deep shadows and stark contrasts that evoke the works of masters like Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney. The score, a blend of jazz and blues, adds to the film's smoky sensuality. The performances are also a highlight. Konkle is perfectly cast as the world-weary detective, his voice a gravelly whisper that oozes charisma and cynicism. Brittney Powell and Jennifer Rope, who play the Montemar sisters, are equally captivating as alluring women with hidden agendas. The supporting cast, including Vernon Wells and David Beeler, add depth and humor to the proceedings. However, some critics have found the film's plot to be derivative and predictable. The twists and turns, while entertaining, feel familiar, and the ultimate resolution isn't particularly surprising. Additionally, the film's dialogue, while snappy and witty, can occasionally feel forced, like a conscious attempt to mimic the hard-boiled patter of its predecessors. Despite its flaws, "Trouble Is My Business" is a stylish and entertaining neo-noir that will delight fans of the genre. It's a love letter to the classic films, capturing their atmosphere, characters, and dialogue with both reverence and a playful wink. While it may not break new ground, it's a well-crafted and visually stunning homage that's sure to keep you guessing until the final shot. Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars Here are some additional points to consider: The film has been praised for its humor, which balances out the darkness of the story. Some viewers have found the pacing to be a bit slow, especially in the first half. The film is relatively short, clocking in at just under two hours. In conclusion, "Trouble Is My Business" is a fun and atmospheric neo-noir that's worth a watch for fans of the genre. While it's not a masterpiece, it's a well-made film that captures the essence of classic noir with style and wit.

Rotten Tomatoes Film Review of Trouble Is My Business Random Media Lumen Actus 2018 from Alt Film Critic Tim Cogshell

'Trouble Is My Business': Humorous Film Noir Pays Homage to 'Touch of Evil' & Other Classics By Tim Cogshell Trouble Is My Business with Brittney Powell: Femme fatale in humorous homage to old film noirsTrouble Is My Business with Brittney Powell. Co-written by actor/voice actor Tom Konkle, who also directed, and Xena: Warrior Princess actress Brittney Powell, Trouble Is My Business is a humorous homage to film noirs of the 1940s and 1950s, among them John Huston's The Maltese Falcon and Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. Konkle stars in the sort of role that back in the '40s and '50s belonged to the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Dick Powell, and Alan Ladd. As the femme fatale, Brittney Powell is supposed to evoke memories of Jane Greer, Lizabeth Scott, Lauren Bacall, and Claire Trevor. 'Trouble Is My Business': Humorous film noir homage evokes memories of 'The Maltese Falcon' & 'Touch of Evil' A crunchy, witty, and often just plain funny mash-up of classic noir tropes, from hard-boiled private dicks to the easy-on-the-eyes femme fatales – in addition to dialogue worthy of Dashiell Hammett and, occasionally, Mel Brooks – Trouble Is My Business means business, but it doesn't mind having a good chuckle as it walks the dark and winding path of double-crosses, corruption, and death. Directed by Tom Konkle, who also co-wrote and co-stars with Brittney Powell as the dick and the dame, Trouble Is My Business – no direct connection to Raymond Chandler's 1939 Philip Marlowe short story – features Konkle as private eye Roland Drake, the quintessential representation of the 1940s noir detective – no pretty boy – with a visage having more in common with Robert Mitchum, who played Marlowe in the 1975 neo-noir Farewell My, Lovely, than Humphrey Bogart, who was Sam Spade in the movie about the black bird. Neither of those guys were pretty boys either, which is why we bought them – and that's why we buy Konkle as a forlorn detective taking the rap for the death of a girl he was supposed to save. Femme fatale Brittney Powell Brittney Powell is also a veteran actor whose credits include Brunhilda in Xena: Warrior Princess, among several auspicious roles in all manner of film and television. She's very good as Jennifer Montemar, a part written by Powell herself so she could play the kind of woman she always wanted. Jennifer has a good deal more humor than, say, Mary Astor's desperate femme fatale in The Maltese Falcon. Yet Powell (eventually) gives the character even more of an edge than Jane Greer's blond, man-eating girl-shark in Out of the Past. Film noir references Those movies and a number of others that only true aficionados of the genre will notice are referenced in Trouble Is My Business. For fans, catching little homages to Double Indemnity and Murder, My Sweet is lovely, but the film Trouble Is My Business circles most often is the great Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. Shades of Welles' evil Police Captain Hank Quinlan show up in the character played by veteran actor Vernon Wells (The Road Warrior): Detective Barry Tate, a sadistic sociopath of a cop that Drake must eventually face – alongside his other demons. Trouble Is My Business trailer. Twists and turns + artifice The twists and turns of the plot in Trouble Is My Business are every bit as serpentine as those in most noir. I still don't know what's going on in The Maltese Falcon, and I'm not sure I know exactly what's going on in this movie either – but as is the case with most noir, who cares? It's the ride and the characters and the very tone itself – not the stories – that make noir … noir. To that end, the filmmakers here use another film noir trope: artifice. The film noirs of old were generally inexpensive productions; some were actually cheap. They usually faked everything from locations and lighting to the existence of walls and ceilings where there were none. The use of darkness was not necessarily a stroke of filmmaking genius in the production of noir, it was at times a necessity because there was usually very little production design and often lots of stuff to hide. The leading man never changed clothes because the leading lady's wardrobe was more important. Trouble Is My Business uses the artifice of props and costume and special effects to create 1940s Los Angeles exteriors and lush interiors all of which is slightly unreal, if not a little surreal. Orson Welles, himself a master of the unreal in a number of ways, would be most impressed. Trouble Is My Business (2017) Dir.: Tom Konkle. Scr.: Tom Konkle & Brittney Powell. Cast: Tom Konkle. Brittney Powell. Vernon Wells. David Beeler. Steve Tom. Ben Pace. Mark Teich. Doug Spearman. Jordana Capra. Benton Jennings. William Jackson. E. Sean Griffin.

Movie Critic Kevin Ranson Reviews Trouble Is My Business directed by Tom Konkle

Review: ‘Trouble Is My Business’ (the final word in film noir) Posted on October 16, 2017 by Kevin Ranson “Passion. Murder. Betrayal. Just another day on the job.” Full disclosure: the reviewer rolled the dice and gambled a contribution to help fund this independent production. Private investigator Roland Drake (Tom Konkle) faces eviction from his office and his career after being disgraced during a missing persons case ending in tragedy. Ruined in the public eye and shunned by the law, everything seems over until redemption walks in: a curvy dark-haired beauty named Katherine Montemar… desperate to hire anyone who can locate her disappeared family members. Both vulnerable and in need of companionship, their undeniable attraction is cut short when Drake wakes next to a pool of blood and his new client vanished from his bed. After misdirecting his equally skilled but unscrupulous ex-partner Lew MacDonald (David Beeler) from discovering the potential crime scene on a suspicious chance visit, Drake is soon confronted by Katherine’s blonde sister Jennifer (Brittney Powell), armed with a fistful of photos and a .38 special. In 1940s Los Angeles where corrupt cops rule the city underworld and moral lines are anything but black and white, trouble is Roland Drake’s business… and business is good. Hardboiled detectives, femme fatales, and a mandatory MacGuffin are all part of the tradition we call film noir. “Guns, dames, and hats” are the order of the day in these brooding period pieces, a bygone era of Hollywood like westerns and musicals. There have been the occasional callbacks with films like L.A. Confidential, Sin City, and even the original Blade Runner repurposing it as a vision of the future — a detail mostly missing from the recent sequel. All of these undertakings require extensive budgets, finding or recreating the trappings and props of the time period, and to develop the visuals required to invoke the all-important atmosphere that defines the film style. Rarely are the words “independent” and “noir” uttered in reference to a feature-length film intended to celebrate and champion a new entry into this staple of the movie industry, but with the right combination of players, passion, and just long enough of a shoestring to fish spare change out of the sewer, can a compelling dark thriller become the end result? As evidenced by Trouble Is My Business, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Less a passion project than a labor of love, writer-director-actor Thomas Konkle gathered the necessary ingredients and managed to draw forth a film by sheer force of will. With years involved in the writing, planning, independent and personal financing, and using every movie-making trick imaginable, Trouble is to film noir what Once Upon a Time in the West was to the western: the final word. With classic elements, a fresh cast, and painstaking detail, Konkle has created a world both familiar and new. Twists, betrayal, and mystery are finely intertwined with the wit, violence, and eventuality of the genre. Locations are important to a production like this, but what couldn’t be found and rented had to be created — often digitally. While Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow buckled under the weight of “look what we can do,” Konkle puts his players in the foreground and allowed the story to dictate the effects, not the other way around. With talents like Jordana Capra as matriarch Evelyn Montemar and Vernon Wells as Detective Barry Tate, the production is nearly seemless and perhaps too-real in its detail, from meticulous editing to a sweeping soundtrack. It’s clear what the filmmakers wanted this to become, and the time put into the post production shows what can be done with today’s off-the-shelf filmmaking tools and the ingenuity of modern creators. Over the last five years, this reviewer has seen several independent productions shaped from concept to completion. From an old-time rocket ship carrying space rangers into the great beyond to a backwoods werewolf reneging on his deal with the devil, there’s no shortage of imagination out there while Hollywood continues to reboot television and movie franchises they never understood to begin with. Trouble sets itself apart in both ambition and execution, and the risk yielded a great reward: a film deserving to be seen and appreciated. Four skull recommendation out of four

Photo stills of one of the love scenes from the noir movie starring Brittney Powell and Thomas Konkle called Trouble is My Business

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