Wolfe's Noir Scenario

Wolfe's Noir Scenario

Bruce Von Stiers

Growing up, I liked those old movies on Saturday afternoon television that were a bit dark and twisted. It wasn't until I was an adult that I learned the that type of film was called noir.

There have been many films over the years that have tried to capture that dark and twisted world of noir. Some have been wildly successful and others not so much.

One film that has a noir bent to it, albeit modern day L.A. noir, is King Saud. It is a murder mystery with more than a touch of sleaziness along with being dark. It is from Rhapsody Digital Entertainment.

The film opens with a Saudi prince being beheaded and the prostitute with him shot and killed. There is a police detective named Wolfe who just lost his partner. He is assigned to the case.

Wolfe is joined by a new partner, Lynch. There is something not quite right about her. Wolfe doesn't understand Lynch and she isn't taking any flack from suspects or from Wolfe.

Their first suspect is the houseman, Al Mahir, who keeps talking about the differences between the U.S. and Islamic ways of life. And some weird stuff about sexuality. That interview could well have put Mahir at the top of the suspect list.

Carlucci is a Madam. Apparently, the murdered woman, Candy, had worked for Carlucci. Wolfe and Lynch go to her home and interview her. Carlucci seems to know Wolfe. While Wolfe is getting the lowdown on Candy from Carlucci, Lynch is talking with the women who work for Carlucci. One of the women, Mandy, gives Lynch a lot of details about the murdered man.

As the film moves on, there are things that aren't quite what they seem. Things aren't quite adding up. There is an FBI agent, Kapinski, who is around but won't help them. Wolfe's captain, Griffin, seems to want to keep things smooth, yet quiet. He apparently doesn't want this case to make big waves anywhere. And there's this thing hanging around in the background that has the attention of Internal Affairs.

There seems to be a lot of stonewalling from the Saudi people that Wolfe and Lynch are trying to get information from. And there are cops that are less than thrilled about the investigation. Is this whole thing some kind of elaborate Internal Affairs sting?

Part of the problem is that Wolfe appears homophobic and anti- Islamic, along with being rough with women. He is pretty much a cop that you wouldn't want to be on the bad side of. Lynch, while having her own set of baggage, is really kind of a badass.

Mark Toma played Wolfe. He also wrote and directed the film. His previous work as a director includes the comedy Prince of Swine.

Kate Orsini was Lynch. She co-starred in the limited series Marisa Romanov and guested on shows such as S.W.A.T and Hunters.

Others in the cast included Mike Saud as Al Mahir. He's been in episodes of shows like Chicago Med and The Chosen. Michael Monks was the captain, Griffin. He's been in so many films and television episodes that even though you might not know his name, you know his face. I even reviewed one of the films he was in, Church People.

Rachel Alig was Carlucci. She starred in films such as Target List and Friends Unlimited. Marlies Baur Bell played Mandy, the talkative call girl. She appeared in an episode of Better Call Saul and one of I Am The Night along with films such as Beautiful Women Live By Night.

David Patrick Green was the FBI agent, Kapinski. From Veronica Mars through ER and Flashpoint, he has been seen in many television shows and quite a few films as well.

Other actors appearing in the film were Hassan Mahmoud, Gustavo Carr, Hiram A. Murray, Allen Perada, Adoni Maropis, Richard Tanner, Said Faraj, Carolyn Lawson, Jack Carlisle, Clemmie Dugdale, Mila Harris, Dominic Page, Fabiana Formica, Dennis Garr, David Neiker and Jenny Blendermann.

The film was produced by Mark Toma and Micheal Creighton Rogers.

The music for the film was by Gerhard Daum. He's composed music for horror films such as Hollywood Kills and Hatchet Man.

The cinematography was done by Evin Grant and Morgan Schmidt . Grant was the cinematographer on several short films, including LA Hustle and Post Sentence. Schmidt was the cinematographer on the thriller films Wayward and Followed. And the film was edited by Larry Tamblyn.

More times than not, I guess the ending of a film wrong. I pick the wrong person for the ultimate bad guy or I missed something that ends up being a crucial piece to help set up the ending. This is one of those films that I got about halfway right.

King Saud is an all-right noir film. Saudi's being portrayed as bad guys has sort of run its course, but it works for the plot of this film. The dialog gets a bit thin at times, but the action isn't half bad. And the noir styling is not too shabby. This is an indie film, so it isn't as polished as a studio feature noir film would be.

King Saud is now available to rent or buy on YouTube or Amazon Prime.

There is an official website for the film. There you can see a trailer for the film and learn more about it and the people involved in making it. That site is https://kingsaudthemovie.com/

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