Funny Neo-Noir Pays Homage to the Classics

Just when you thought sun-drenched noirs got their modern-day fix with last week’s release of Skincare, the subgenre marches forth with The Other Laurens. There are glorious visuals aplenty in this flashy new neo-noir, but don’t let the film’s ‘White House’ setting fool you. This twisty and surprisingly comedic feature from co-writer and director Claude Schmitz takes place overseas in Europe.

From Yellow Veil Pictures, The Other Laurens also keeps you guessing and even tests your patience at times. While it’s not Gerry, this is hardly Jason Statham territory and will frustrate anyone looking for easy answers in a quick fashion. The Other Laurens will benefit from a repeat viewing as well, especially to catch certain quips and fun details you may have missed initially (while reading the subtitles or otherwise). But for the first go around, brace yourself for an alternative, international noir set against a bright & sunny backdrop.

A Private Dick Heads to Europe’s ‘White House’

Anyone who’s dared to read Thomas Pynchon’s acclaimed novel Inherent Vice or at least seen Paul Thomas Anderson’s film adaptation will catch a similar dynamic in The Other Laurens. Instead of Pynchon’s Doc Sportello, we have a gruff private detective here named Gabriel Laurens (cue the film’s title), who takes a reluctant break from his day job of sniffing out extramarital affairs once his beautiful young niece Jade (Louise Leroy) enters his life unannounced.

That’s when the A-story and all its twisty byproducts fills the picture. Jade reveals that her dad — and Gabriel’s estranged twin brother, François — has died, and that things ain’t exactly what they seem, despite what authorities are trying to inform the grieving daughter. Given Gabriel’s private-dick expertise, he begrudgingly ventures down to his bro’s massive estate along the Franco-Spanish border, in the form of a White House that resembles the one currently occupied by Joe Biden.

Is this a bit of satirical flair? You be the judge. This European version of the mansion is inhabited by Jade’s sharp-tongued, bilingual stepmom Shelby (Kate Moran), who has a macho boyfriend (the dimwittedly hilarious Edwin Gaffney) alongside a biker gang at her disposal to keep tabs on the brewing, rogue investigation that Jade is stirring.

Becoming ‘The Other Laurens’

Investigations tend to hit roadblocks, and Gabriel is meanwhile short on the cash he needs to keep up his ailing mother’s health care; plus, watch as he can’t even swipe a credit card to fill his gas tank without it declining, as the judgmental Jade watches on and even offers to pay for him. It’s a pitiful sight, so the seemingly brilliant investigator that is Gabriel decides he must remain on the case and perhaps even up the ante regarding his tactics.

That means utterly transforming his wardrobe and slicking his hair back, now evoking wealthy, wealthy estate owner vibes. Yes, only a certain population of Europe knows his brother Francois is dead, so Gabriel becomes his deceased twin sibling — “the other Laurens” — in order to embrace the criminal underworld that his brother turns out to have been a part of.

That’s when the real fun kicks into high gear, in more ways than one. You get an additional set of colorful supporting characters, including some merciless drug lords and a pair of local police officers whose banter seems ripped out of a Tarantino script. You also get some incredible cinematography, with a neon palette that feels part Wong Kar-wai and part Brian De Palma.

Oddly Paced & Dense but Real Neon Noir Fun

That’s when the real fun kicks into high gear, in more ways than one. You get an additional set of colorful supporting characters, including some merciless drug lords and a pair of local police officers whose banter seems ripped out of a Tarantino script. You also get some incredible cinematography, with a neon palette that feels part Wong Kar-wai and part Brian De Palma.

The grand-scale nature of this ensemble narrative ultimately offers forward-thinking ideas on how to make a seemingly simple detective story feel strikingly alternative and fresh. There’s a real postmodern, international approach to storytelling here. And about that. Don’t let the subtitles scare you, there is plenty of English in this multilingual film from Belgium, but its narrative does get dense enough that you may miss something if you don’t both read the subtitles and see what’s going on. With blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments, The Other Laurens is a film that requires your attention, even when it can progress at glacial speeds.

So sure, the pacing can slow painfully to a fault at times, and you may find yourself turning to your partner or pals and asking for clarification on what the heck just transpired in certain dialogue-heavy sequences. But stick with it, especially with an epic, helicopter-involving third act to put the icing on this neon-colored cake.