The Crosby Case: A quick, messy mystery

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, only if you're the kind of person who likes watching old B-movies on a rainy Tuesday while folding laundry. If you need tight logic or characters that act like real humans, you're going to be annoyed pretty quickly.

Fans of classic 1930s crime procedural vibes will probably dig the aesthetic, but everyone else might find it a bit of a slog. It’s definitely not for anyone looking for a brisk pace.

The vibe

The whole thing feels a little bit like The Shootin' Fool but with less dirt and more suits. Everyone is suspicious of everyone else, and the police are, as usual, completely useless at their jobs.

There's this one scene where they are arguing in a parlor, and I swear the wallpaper was more interesting than the dialogue. It just sort of... happens. It doesn't really build tension so much as it just takes up space on the screen.

Odd bits

I couldn't help but notice how many people are in this cast. It’s a bit crowded. It reminds me a bit of the chaos in Shuffle Off to Buffalo, where you're just waiting for someone to trip over someone else.

• The lighting is either way too bright or just a dark blob.
• Nobody ever seems to actually check their pockets for evidence.
• The main characters have this weird habit of staring at the floor when they’re lying.

I kept thinking about how much sharper this would feel if they cut about twenty minutes of the walking-around-rooms scenes. It gets a little better once the mystery actually kicks in, but the journey to get there is pretty bumpy.

It lacks the punch you’d find in something like Circumstantial Evidence. It’s just... there. A movie that exists to fill a time slot.

A final thought

It’s not a disaster, but it’s not exactly a hidden gem either. It’s fine. It’s just fine. Sometimes that’s all you get, right? 🕵️‍♂️