Film Review UK Trouble Is My Business

Indie Films Movie Trailers Original post here Trouble Is My Business indie film October 25, 2017 | UK Film Review ★★★★ Directed by Tom Konkle Starring Tom Konkle, Vernon Wells, Brittney Powell, Steve Tom, Benton Jennings, Mark Teich, Jordana Capra, David Beeler Indie Film Review by Chris Olson Classic crime noir adventure in this indie film from director Tom Konkle, Trouble Is My Business taps into a reservoir of genre conventions to deliver a good ol' mystery and kidnapping story using amazing cinematography, costumes and filmmaking aesthetics to embolden the myriad of vibrant characters. Disgraced private investigator Roland Drake (Tom Konkle) may have taken on more than he can handle when the daughter of a prominent family comes to him for help in finding her father, who has been missing for a week. To make matters worse, she then goes missing! With a punctured reputation being splattered all over the tabloids and a rocky relationship (to say the least) with the authorities, Drake must navigate his way through copious amounts of mystery and violence to find answers. In the vain of films like Laura and Double Indemnity, Trouble Is My Business ticks a lot of cinematic boxes when it comes to delivering a period crime drama. The darkened urban streets and grimly lit office are all there alongside the tumblers of whisky and snappy dialogue. Even the font used on the opening credits smacks of '40s noir. Tonally there is a huge amount for audiences to be immersed in with this movie and great effort has been put into the sublime mise en scéne. Certain sequences may feel a little over the top but it's a genre movie that can certainly indulge in a bit of melodrama without jolting the audience out of the experience. Konkle is a particularly strong lead, containing all the wit, charm and ruggedness you could want for a private dick, and engaging in some fantastically theatrical banter with almost all of the characters. He gets ruffed up along the way by an absolutely sterling performance from Vernon Wells as Detective Tate, whose long arm of the law stretches far and wide. Along with Konkle in most scenes is the excellent Brittney Powell who commands so many of the frames she is in as Jennifer. With a running time of nearly two hours, Trouble Is My Business stretches itself too thin in terms of plot, especially during the final third. It's a storyline that keeps to the path well trodden and didn't need as much convolution as it has. That being said when cinema is as visually arresting as this you don't mind sticking around a little longer. The use of an eclectic array of Hollywood backdrops (I assume using green screen) is just magnificent, one rooftop scene where Tate beats seven bells out of Drake is sublimely put together, as are the numerous car scenes and shoot outs. The phrase "they don't make them like this anymore" could not be more apt for Konkle's film, co-written with Powell. It's a genre movie that completely dedicates itself to the form and reaps the benefits for its boldness. Fans of the masters of cinema will be in their absolute element, ricocheting against the costumes, sets, characters and more as the story unwinds into a classic caper with all the trimmings. Now...where did I leave MY whiskey tumbler. Tags: Indie Film Reviews Indie Films Movie Trailers Chris Olson Film Noir Classic Film Crime Mystery Tom Konkle Vernon Wells Brittney Powell Steve Tom Benton Jennings Mark Teich Jordana Capra David Beeler

FILM REVIEW TROUBLE IS MY BUSINESS starring Vernon Wells Brittney Powell Tom Konkle

FILM INFO: Detective Roland Drake falls for two sisters from the Montemar family. One woman is dead and the other wants to kill him. WRITTEN BY: Brittney Powell, Tom Konkle DIRECTED BY: Tom Konkle GENRE: Crime, Mystery TIME: 113 minutes. Trouble Is My Business ( 2018 )

4.5/5 Stars This is one of those rare indie, lower budget films that I really and truly loved. Not just as a good independent film, but as a great film in general. Half expecting some dreary black and white picture, pitched as a noir title "because" it's black and white, I knew this wasn't going to be the case within the first minute or so. What I ended up getting with "Trouble Is My Business" was a stylized, well thought out production, that captured the feel it was going for perfectly. This doesn't just look like it was based on the stylized concepts of the genre, it plays like the real thing. From the excellent use of cliche shadows, from blinds and fans - and whatever else could possibly make a great looking shadow, straight through to comedic yet believable dialog... believable for a film of this nature that is. Sayings like "being a flat tire" and dead-pan one liners, fill the sound space and brought a grin to my face. Generally speaking, Tom Konkle and Brittney Powell have penned an excellent script and Konkle himself, has done some excellent work directing it. It's all here for lovers of this type of movie and more to the point, it's all here even if you're not a genre fan. Set within Konkle and Powell's version of a decade long gone, the props, costuming, and general back drops all scream to be noticed - yet are not the main, onscreen attraction here. The main attraction as it were, is the inevitable story we all know and love... done well and acted brilliantly. Sure. We may not know all the details of the story - and I'm certainly not going to share them, but the staples are in place and guaranteed. The down on his luck private dick. The mysterious dame... and in this case, her sister as well. The rivalry of a competing detective and of course, a slew of villainous characters that are either quirky enough to be sinister, or just down right bad. We all know the players and general greedy concepts, and I feel it's that familiar setting that makes this film work. As for the players on the stage ladies and germs? How did they do? Bluntly... the cast are no slouches. Hell, you may even recognize a few yourself... meaning that we do have some experience on-set. That's not really the point however, not the one I want to make. All the characters within "Trouble Is My Business" feel right at home onscreen, meaning that the actors must have felt at home as well. Lines were corny sounding when they needed to be. Witty when it worked for the scene, and everything you expect from a film of this nature. Since this is a stylistic genre, I have no other way to describe the acting except to say it's exactly what you think it's going to be. Like the other production elements within the film, everything just seems to fit together nicely, creating a film that plays smooth as silk. Even the incredibly lengthy run-time of almost two hours - crazy for an indie low budget film - seems not all that long while you are watching. It's just one of those rare indie productions where everything managed to fall in place. I write that rather loosely, since the reality of things "falling into place" no doubt required a "lot" of hard work. To me, the viewer however, that magical feeling of everything just fitting together nicely, is a movie watchers blissful ignorance. I know, it's a lot of hard work that creates that feeling. A lot of hard work my eyes... and ears... are thankful for. I don't know what's being put into the water lately, but I've had the pleasure of watching a "lot" of independent, lower budget productions, that have been simply splendid. What a great year it has been - and maybe a little scary of a year for the traditional studio model of movie making. "Trouble Is My Business" ranks quite high on my best of the best scale. Did I mention the names on this scale are pleasantly longer than the last few years, yet not quite considered numerous? Quickly changing is the stigma independent, micro films have always been associated with. Crappy. Horrible acting and production. Campy, corny and laughable. Konkle and Powell's title helps raise that bar a little higher, and reduce the stigma in the process. This was a film I am glad I got to see. If this write-up helps gets even one more set of eyes viewing, it was all worth it. Bottom line? This is a fun, visually interesting movie. Congrats to the cast and crew for a job well... well done.