The Dry Agent

The Dry Agent places Charles Dorety at the center of the chaotic American Prohibition era, portraying a government enforcer whose enthusiasm for the law is matched only by his spectacular ineptitude. Rather than a gritty crime drama, the film reinterprets the Volstead Act as a playground for physical comedy, following Dorety as he attempts to sniff out illegal spirits in a world where every barrel is a potential trap and every suspect is faster than he is. The narrative functions as a rhythmic series of escalating mishaps, where the 'dry' agent finds himself increasingly drenched in the very chaos he is tasked with preventing. It is a cynical yet playful look at the absurdity of legislating morality through the lens of early 20th-century slapstick.