While there are funny moments, mostly coming from Levine and Shawkat's performances, most of the film is lackluster, especially the relationships between the characters.

Full Review | Nov 9, 2018

[Lawrence Michael] Levine juices the intrigue with humor (a dub-intensive score elevates the tension), and that helps to keep things engaging, but man oh man, can these people be exasperating.

Full Review | Aug 21, 2017

Clearly, Canaries is all about the couple at its core, who are both drawn smoothly.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jun 21, 2016

Married filmmakers Takal and Levine have an easy rapport, and they elicit likable performances from all their cast. (Even the villains are hard to hate.)

Full Review | Nov 12, 2015

This screwball noir about a Brooklyn couple who investigate the death of their elderly neighbor is an enthusiastic but bungled effort at a comedic thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Mar 13, 2015

Attempting to capture the screwball essence of the old-school suspense-comedy ... Lawrence Michael Levine's flighty "Wild Canaries" lacks the filmmaking discipline required to pay effective homage.

Full Review | Mar 5, 2015

Cute or presumptuous? It's your call where "Wild Canaries" is concerned.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 5, 2015

Levine deftly toes the seriocomic line, making us sure nothing underhanded has actually occurred in one scene and making us question that certainty in the next.

Full Review | Mar 5, 2015

It's like "Scooby-Doo" for the artisanal cupcake set.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 4, 2015

The genre play is an interesting take on what has become a clich genre of Brooklyn relationship dramedy. But unfortunately, the execution is bungled along the way, and the film ends up feeling like not quite one thing and not quite the other.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Feb 28, 2015

It offers an unpredictable ride that's kind of fun, or at least sporadically simulates fun.

Full Review | Feb 27, 2015

A delightful diversion that succeeds in spoofing the film noir genre while simultaneously spinning a thoroughly-modern variation on the theme of those classic crime capers.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 27, 2015

It's evident that the film is largely a lark, that Levin is having fun creating comic sparks by smashing a murder mystery together with a group of self-centered detectives, plot details be damned.

Full Review | Feb 26, 2015

The stars of the show are Levine and Takal, whose performances not only perfect the film's comic tempo, but also suggest that their real-life relationship has influenced every frustrated argument and passionate kiss seen in the film.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 26, 2015

Like much of Woody Allen's mid-career work, it's a light romantic comedy handled with aplomb.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5/10 | Feb 26, 2015

Despite an appealing cast, though, neither comedy nor suspense really takes flight until very near the end, largely due to a script that isn't equal to the filmmakers' enthusiasm.

Full Review | Feb 25, 2015

'Wild Canaries' is a polished indie homage to screwball comedy, but its retro fever is not shallow. Its understanding of the subgenre runs deep.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 25, 2015

At its core, Wild Canaries is a reminder that relationships require a sense of adventure, and maybe a little mystery, to keep the magic alive. Indie comedies, as the film proves, benefit from the same.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Feb 25, 2015

On paper, "Wild Canaries" sounds like it has all the ingredients for a reasonably diverting comedy, but they just never quite pull together into a cohesive or entertaining whole.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 25, 2015

Setting this pair of squirrelly, suspicious minds loose on matters of love and death, Mr. Levine spins a caper that wins you over more through tenacity than through originality.

Full Review | Feb 24, 2015