The Dummy Detective

2025

Action / Comedy / Crime / Mystery / Thriller

3
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 80%
IMDb Rating 4.3/10 10 181 181

Director

Rob Margolies Photo
Rob Margolies

Top cast

Sean Young Photo
Sean Young as Harriet Hubbard
Deborah Twiss Photo
Deborah Twiss as Chloe Lake
Ed Altman Photo
Ed Altman as Elliot Black
Nikolas Bushi Photo
Nikolas Bushi as Nik & Chris
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
827.79 MB
1280*534
English 2.0
NR
us  de  es  fr  it  pt  
24 fps
1 hr 29 min
Seeds 12
1.5 GB
1920*800
English 2.0
NR
us  de  es  fr  it  pt  
24 fps
1 hr 29 min
Seeds 38

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by zakstrobel 10 / 10

A fun, old-school crime mystery

Jonathan Geffner's long-awaited feature film "The Dummy Detective" (2025) is a fun, old-school crime mystery.For those who have not heard of Jonathan Geffner, he is a very talented ventriloquist who has been entertaining and teaching lessons to children and adults with his hilarious puppet acts for over 40 years. I've had the privilege to not only to see two of his acts live in 2000, but also have written two picture books with him on Amazon. So besides being a gifted performer, he is also a wonderful human being.With all that said, I still did not know what to expect going into "The Detective Dummy." My guess was it would be similar to Jonathan's "Trillo & Suede" mystery comedy series on YouTube from 2020 considering the film stars the title characters. So I was expecting something with a lot of fourth-wall breaking, crime-solving, Yiddish jokes, and of course, puppets. When I started watching the first few minutes of the film, it definitely felt in the mystery genre, but I wouldn't call this a "laugh-out-loud" comedy. Don't get me wrong, there are some good jokes in this movie, but the film is more focused on telling a compelling crime mystery than making you laugh. I can't really fault the movie for being something it's not. Basically, it caught me off guard, but I'm willing to judge it for what it is. As it is, it is a very good movie.For an independent, shot-on-location, direct-to-streaming movie, the film has an insane cinematic feel. I really wished I could see this flick in a movie theater because it looks that impressive. Rob Margolies' direction and Juri Beythien's atmospheric cinematography is reminiscent of Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis' films from the 1980s, because the film isn't afraid to experiment with its framed shots and lighting, which is highly appreciated because most films these days are shot so blandly.The story, characters and mystery itself are a bit traditional, but that's kind of the film's charm. The film is written and acted like a pastiche of old-school mysteries from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Jonathan plays a classic, trench coat-wearing detective, who happens to be a ventriloquist. Sean Young ("Blade Runner," "Dune") plays a quirky innkeeper who also happens to monologue throughout the movie. Deborah Twiss plays a Jessica Rabbit-like femme fatale. Those characters might seem too dated to exist in a modern story, but the film does include enough contemporary updates and believable writing to make this world feel plausible. Also, I find it clever that instead of puppets just existing like humans in this world, they exist more like comic relief in the ventriloquists' mind or when they're performing with them. That creates both a lot of creativity and character at the same time.Overall, the film is a lot of fun, and I definitely recommend it. You can tell everyone went the extra mile in every department.You did a great job, Jonathan and friends, and I can't wait to see more content from you guys in the future (and maybe a new book).
Reviewed by brodiechase 2 / 10

Meh

I think I get what the writer and director were going for, and it probably could have played during COVID when everyone was hungry for any content they could get. This was dog water...Ohhh... review be too short... three-hundred characters they insist upon.... i can't think of three hundred anything this movie could ever invoke . This is my nice side.
Reviewed by RichardMcCarty 1 / 10

Worst of 2025

Worst movie of 2025? Possibly.The novel premise is quickly suffocated by the inane storyline and lumbering script. These problems are not helped by some of the worst overacting I've ever seen in a feature film.It's not all bad though. There is some effective cinematography. Lighting is often well done. Sean Young is the standout actor here, but what on earth is she doing in this movie?The story is ludicrous, the musical score is pedestrian, the jokes fall flat, and the acting made me cringe throughout. Worst film of 2025? Possibly. Amateur hour.
Read more IMDb reviews

5 Comments

Be the first to leave a comment