Shamus II: The Mystery of the Gypsy’s Gardenia

Author(s): Ryan
Location: N/A

"Shamus II: The Mystery of the Gypsy’s Gardenia"

Directed by Jonathan Demme
Written by Sam Lake, Rian Johnson, James Ellroy & Brian Helgeland
Music by Mark Isham
Cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond

Main Cast

Guy Pearce (Shamus Dick Noir)
Gwen Stefani (Katherine Jones-Noir)
Piper Perabo (Cherry Gypsy)
Robbie Coltrane (The Murcill City Murderer)
Jon Hurt (The New Governor)
Jude Law (The Dead Governor)
William Fichtner (Head Commissioner Conrad Blaine)
Matthew Underwood (The Boy)
Lucy Liu (Lady Zhou Wu)

Tagline: "When the Bad Guy’s Sleep, THEY’re Watching"

Synopsis: Still shot in 8mm, black and white, Shamus II starts off with the newly married couple, Shamus Dick Noir (Guy Pearce) and Katherine Jones-Noir (Gwen Stefani), who traded in the spotlight for a caliber and a life of P.I. work. It is on one dark night when the couple chases after The Boy (Matthew Underwood), a callboy working for Lady Zhou Wu (Lucy Liu). Catching The Boy after a lengthy foot chase, breaking into The Governor’s house (Jude Law), they find the Governor dead on the floor with a Gardenia in his mouth.

The Boy said he was called over for a ‘job’, but finding the Governor dead on the floor. While Zhou confirms the story Katherine notices a Gardenia in her hair, suspecting her to be the culprit along with The Boy, but can’t figure out the motive.

It isn’t fast until The New Governor (Jon Hurt), comes in, wanting to clean up Murcill City, appoints big town police chief to Head Commissioner Conrad Blaine (William Fichtner), who is out for Noir, not approving of his unorthodox ways; keeping an eye out for him. Though he shouldn’t, Noir still investigates, he finds out from Wu that she got the Gardenia from a woman, Cherry Gypsy (Piper Perabo), a gypsy caravan moving through town. But when Katherine and Dick arrive to the caravan, it is destroyed, Cherry miraculously alive on the floor with a gardenia in her mouth. Cherry recounts the horrid tale, and describes the man who did this to the clan as a spitting image of THE MURCILL CITY MURDERER (Robbie Coltrane)! The same one who killed Scarlet & Red, The Opium Dealer, and countless others, Dick pursuing him but stopped to rescue Katherine who he stabbed during the chase. She also said she sold gardenias to him other times too; Noir figuring, he used them to make him seem like a different murderer with a new calling card.

With Cherry along for the ride for redemption, the Noir’s and her set out to find The Murcill City Murderer and put him in jail before he strikes again to end it once and for all, unless Conrad Blaine puts them in jail first!

What the Press would say:

“Two thumbs ALL THE WAY up!”-Ebert & Roeper“A well deserved sequel that surpasses the latter!”- People
“A+! A Great Noir Thriller with Twist Turns and Red Herrings.”-Entertainment Weekly
“A Shout-out to Noir but with its own flair this time around!”-Rolling Stone Magazine

In black and white, and 8mm, Shamus II: The Mystery of the Gypsy’s Gardenia is less of a shout-out to noir but has it’s own unique flair, combining the summer blockbuster with a Casablanca noir tone and setting. Demme really hits hard with this one with impressive foot chases and camera angles that pan for miles on end, set to the fantastic cinematography. Writers: Lake, Johnson, Ellroy, and Helgeland still use the unique writing process and spit out one great script.

Guy Pearce gives a hell of a cool performance of a married P.I. Though marriage has changed his playboy attitude he still has fun which translates onto the screen as well. With great verbal sparring scenes with Hurt and Fichtner’s characters (who also electrify), Pearce knows his character inside and out.

However, the scene stealer in this one is Gwen Stefani, with a 100% bigger role, Stefani grows as an actress with a magnetic performance, that is more nitty gritty and pulls it off as well with a certain charm, taking command on screen like on stage.

Piper Perabo is exquisite, she is strong-headed and filled with emotion not stopping until she gets redemption. Though Perabo has been around for a while she really gives a career defining performance that will definitely give her a salary raise. Hurt and Fichtner and Coltrane are terrific in their respective villainous roles each sending a dislike factor to the audience where you hate them even when the movie’s over.

Though brief but important characters who pop up throughout, Lucy Liu and Matthew Underwood give great performances. Though Underwood’s character is cut short by the Murcill City Murderer he has a great presence. Lucy Liu has a mysterious vibe but never overplays it.

Shamus II is the ultimate movie!

Best Picture
Best Director: Jonathan Demme
Best Screenplay: Sam Lake, Rian Johnson, James Ellroy & Brian Helgeland
Best Original Score: Mark Isham
Best Actor: Guy Pearce
Best Supporting Actor: Robbie Coltrane, William Fichtner, Jon Hurt
Best Actress: Gwen Stefani
Best Supporting Actress: Piper Perabo