Movie Review: Finding Optel
One-liner: This animated, playful and quirky neighbourhood crime comedy caper is lighthearted but tonally inconsistent and distractingly self-conscious.
Finding Optel is a sweet crime caper and directorial debut for Jesse Brown and Mikayla Joy Brown, who also stars as Claire Abrahams, a quirky 16-year-old girl hot on the trail of a missing dog. A cheap and cheerful escapade, this stylish adventure has a playful and naïve undertone, much like a Nancy Drew mystery with a distinctly South African flavor. It channels the curious nature of Amélie and translates it into a local context.
The film tries to charm audiences with its upbeat detective story and local trinkets, from an affinity for chocolate eclair sweets to Claire’s overly rule-based life under her father’s roof. Freeze-frames explain South Africanisms to the audience, taking pleasure in getting to the root etymology with a twinkle in the eye. A family-friendly tale, it feels like a story that could have easily been an animated feature.
This animated quality is reflected in the quirky, theatrical performances of its cast. Instead of an animated film, though, the directors have crafted a vivid live-action tale filled with fun local characters and a recognizable South African ensemble, including Zenobia Kloppers, Maurice Carpede and Oscar Petersen. The film retains its light-hearted tone and colourful mix while drawing parallels to The Kid Detective turning a neighbourhood caper into something amusing, as the young sleuth follows a series of clues in a bid to rescue a beloved pet.
With a peppy disposition and quirky tone, Finding Optel aims for a light, tongue-in-cheek comedic quality that makes for easy viewing. Much like Enola Holmes, the film has a sense of purpose and self-awareness. While it doesn’t break the fourth wall, the cutesy, sometimes campy tone and stylistic choices suggest that Wes Anderson could have been a direct influence.
“So, how this weather we’ve been having lately?”
Unfortunately, while these influences are wonderful references and noble aspirations, Finding Optel pales in comparison. Working with a considerably smaller budget, the production design is constantly creative and deliberately kitschy rather than lived-in. The curation and attempts to be spunky give it a scrapbook feel and a ’90s vibration instead of creating a truly immersive environment for the characters to live and breathe in.
While Finding Optel has moments of delight, it tries to leverage its curious, magpie-like sensibilities to keep the story moving along. The idea has promise and attempts to harness emotional depth through back story, but it lacks the necessary impetus and tension to connect with and root for this intrepid investigator. The story is perfunctory and struggles to create excitement or suspense, ambling along at a low level without much pressure.
The narrative unwinds as one scene trundles into the next, struggling to balance comedy and crime. There’s an inconsistency in tone, from a father imprisoning his daughter to trafficking; these serious matters don’t quite generate the intended comedy or suspense. Finding Optel tries to latch onto the cinematic flair of films like Amélie and Enola Holmes but delivers a sitcom quality movie on a modest budget.
A made-for-TV film, it isn’t aiming for pure cinematic ideals but could have been much sharper with a few more drafts. The intermittent freeze-frame definitions add some interest but also take viewers out of the world of Finding Optel, with many elements that distract from the plot. The narrative is a bit stop-start as Claire tries to track down Optel with many insignificant to unnecessary supporting characters to bounce off.
Finding Optel is a low-key, lightweight, and family-friendly crime caper and mystery adventure. It’s far from offensive and has many great ideas, but ultimately comes across as a bit bland. For light-hearted family entertainment, you could do worse. The quirkiness definitely works in its favour, and there are some fun moments where Claire solves puzzles and overcomes obstacles. However, aside from a late off-key escalation that resolves without much of a challenge, Finding Optel is mostly a walk in the park.
The bottom line: Breezy
