Crime, Love, and Soda: The Campy Adventures of Detective Edgar Wickley

Ben Langford’s Crime, Love, and Soda is a 19-minute black-and-white comedy about a young man for whom time is all over the place. He looks like a 16-year old runaway, works and talks as a noir detective, and is also from the 19th century. His roommate calls it a Peter Pan problem and it may well be the key, even if the source is a person who does not like coats on his coat rack.

The film is populated with such oddball characters and their quirks. The opening credits sets you up to expect a fully immersed classical Hollywood-style noir. So it makes sense that the chief of police (at least) is sensible. In fact, Damien Long as Chief Boog is just about the only sensible person around, despite the restlessness that fuels him. Unfortunately for him, it is now part of his job to put up with one Detective Edgar Wickley (Daniel Oakes). Our protagonist. The trenchcoat and deerstalker hat will not be the last time Wickley’s sartorial choices take you in a chokehold. On the other hand, his stylised, over-enunciated speech equally hijacks your attention, coming as it does from a mouth that has yet to know the tickle of facial hair. His roommate Clifford (Anthony James) sports a full stache.

There is the visible effect of a low budget, and yet the performances—especially of Oakes and Peter Kavanaugh who appears later—and writing smooth over the rough edges admirably. In each case, the theatrics are splendid. It is self-aware and partakes in irony just as much as the next contemporary comedy, but Wickley’s sincere artificiality is a cement to hold stray elements together.

Kavanaugh appears as a fortune teller dressed as a magician in the middle of the night. In other words, the perfect match for Wickley. While Oakes excels in playing the grandiloquent ingenue, Kavanaugh’s skill shines in his pauses and his mellow flourishes as though time has worn down the sharp edges and imposed on him the weight of experience. He has all the time in the world to play out his delightful tomfoolery. At this point, about halfway in, Frederick sets Wickley on a new mission that propels the plot forward and brings it full circle (and brings Clifford along).

Arguably, even the amateurish look works in the favour of the full display of camp in Crime, Love, and Soda. With the heart and fervour of a college stage production, the film charms you almost immediately. The writing is neat, it gives you the detective plot just as it serves you with all the excesses of its fans. If we’re lucky, we may just see more of Detective Edgar Wickley.

Watch Crime, Love, and Soda. Short Film