Alibi Racket: A quick trip into the interrogation room

Is it worth your time?

If you have a thing for old-school police procedurals that don't waste time on side plots, you'll probably like this. It’s lean, maybe a little too thin, but it gets the job done. If you need big, sweeping drama or complex character arcs, you should definitely skip it. It’s basically just a high-stakes conversation in a room with bad lighting.

The whole thing feels like it was filmed on a shoestring budget, which actually kind of works for the story. There isn't much room for the actors to hide. Edward Norris looks like he’s trying to remember his lines half the time, but honestly, it adds to the jittery vibe of the suspect.

Small details that stuck out

• There’s a scene where the detective taps his pen on the desk for what feels like ten minutes. I checked my watch. It was probably just twenty seconds, but my brain was screaming.
• The smoke in the interrogation room is so thick you can practically smell the stale cigarettes through the screen. 🚬
• I kept thinking about The Sign of the Wolf and how different the pacing is—this one is just so much more claustrophobic.

The dialogue is snappy, though it leans pretty hard into clichés. Every time someone says, 'I have an airtight alibi,' you know exactly where the next fifteen minutes are going. It’s not subtle, but it’s satisfying in that way those old B-movies are.

I noticed one of the background officers in the station scenes keeps trying to adjust his tie. It’s distracting once you see it. He’s clearly just waiting for his turn to stand still in the corner.

The verdict?

It’s not going to change your life. It’s just a solid, punchy little flick about cops being persistent. Sometimes a movie doesn't need to be profound to be worth a watch on a rainy Tuesday. It’s definitely better than sitting through a re-watch of Three on a Honeymoon, that’s for sure.

It ends abruptly, too. Almost like they ran out of film and just decided that was enough. I kind of liked that, actually. No long goodbyes, just a fade to black.