Trouble Is My Business is a loving Film Noir fan letter. But, it also isn’t. The movie walks the same kind of line that the Coen Brothers towed in The Man Who Wasn’t There. You can take the style and aesthetic of a beloved subgenre and tell a modern story. But, not too modern. Trust me this will make sense.
Personal favorite Vernon Wells plays Detective Tate. He’s a vicious man stylized as a 1940s heavy. It’s the kind of role that Jon Polito would play if he was more grizzled and about a foot taller. He leans hard on our lead Detective, as the guy just wants to figure out the connection between a vacant father, a mysterious diamond and the sisters that keep dotting in and out of his life.
Thomas Konkle is our director, co-writer and leading man. Coupled with Brittney Powell playing the lead lady Jennifer, it produces something that feels like a deep indie auteur action. Many will be quick to pull out their Film School textbooks and wax on about the use of artifice. However, so much of modern cinema is based on the use of common visual cues to build a sense of familiarity.
Most long-time readers know that when I really enjoy something, I spend a lot of time with it. After my fifth viewing of Trouble Is My Business, I was ready to finalize my views. We live in an era where invoking anything before 1993 is asking for recognition trouble from a wider audience. Time has a way of stomping on the mainstream and reshaping it into an entertainment tableau that is much more palatable to the masses.
Thankfully, we have artists like Konkle and Powell working together to produce a film that is entertaining and yet continues to build upon one of the great American film arts. The Detective is the American heroic archetype that took over after the Cowboy faded away. Konkle inherits a bit from both the Gary Cooper and Sam Spade tradition as a man who fights for what he knows is right, not matter how many people stand in his way.
The summer is always a packed period competing for your entertainment attention. Make the time today to check out Trouble Is My Business.
Where to learn more about Trouble Is My Business
Official Film Site — http://www.troubleismy.biz/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TroubleIsMyBusinessMovie/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/newfilmnoir
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/troubleismybiz/