This film is more proof that Wisdom and Intelligence are not the same thing. Trixie isn't very bright or well educated, but what she lacks in book-learning she makes up for in street smarts and good morals. She's not unnattractive, just rather plain.
Cute, but not beautiful. Chews gum alot.
Sort of a female "Columbo" but even dimmer.
Just judging from her looks on the box cover
of the VHS cassette, I don't know why, but I just assumed
she was British. She looks stereotypically British,
and I was surprised to hear a sassy Chicago accent come
from those lips and not some kind of Cockney or other London accent...then again, the last feature film I watched was
THE LIMEY, so maybe that's still in my head subconsciously.

You have to get used to the title character's dialogue...I found it rather painful on my ears...and you will start talking like Trixie if you're not careful, with all the mangled metaphors!...I'm not sure it's really believable someone could talk that way so consistently, regardless of educational background...I'm sure the actress had to spend a lot of time working on her lines to get them so perfectly screwed up...sounds more like a foreigner whose first language is not English speaking that would be more believeable.
Some of it is mildly amusing, I'm sure some people howl with laughter the whole way through...but I didn't. I think Trixie would have been/could have been just as good a movie without the speech impediment...a "female Columbo" is not a bad idea for a movie, but they could have done it more effectively by studying Peter Falk's methods. Or if they insisted on the language schtick...I still say what dissapointed me most is that Trixie just looks so BRITISH. If Zellweger can pull of a Brit accent and Aussies can pull of US accents, this film would have worked nicely in London..."Trixie" could have taken lessons from Brad Pitt's Irish gypsy character in SNATCH, for instance.

Nick Nolte does a good job playing a bad guy. The female actress in the supporting role, the 16 yr old vixen, was
a positively disturbing character.

still, this was worth the cost of the rental.


Great dialogue   November 14, 2001
Eolake (Lancashire, United Kingdom)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Trixie is a uneducated and seemingly naîve, but surprisingly effective cop, who basically speaks in mangled metaphors and expressions.

"I believe in taking the bull by the tail and staring him right in the eye."

"No, you can't have a drink, you are not drinking yourself into Bolivia."


Weak story with numerous funny lines   February 3, 2001
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

One needs a certain warped sense of humor to enjoy this film. Trixie (Emily Watson) is a self proclaimed "Private Defective" whose butchery of English is nothing short of cleavacle. Her command of idioms is not as bad as it is worse. She is Norm Crosby taken to the tenth powder. She mixes semaphores with a high-speed blender. Her malapropriations are so funny they border on historical.

The writing of Trixie's dialogue by Alan Rudolph is extremely clever, but the story that surrounds it is very quirky, constantly meandering off point. I'm not a big fan of Rudolph's wry style of directing, but this film actually has its moments. Some of the things that pop out of Trixie's mouth are priceless. I found myself tolerating the boring story to hear what she would say next.

Emily Watson's performance is excellent. She gives Trixie a naïve charm and gritty determination that is fun to watch. It is hard to fathom how she is able to say her lines with a straight face. Her Chicago accent is horrendous though. Nathan Lane also gives a tragically droll performance and Nick Nolte is absurdly humorous in his caricature of the corrupt state senator.

This film was pounded by almost everyone, but I like this kind of word gymnastics, so I enjoyed it despite itself. I rated it a 6/10. If you can appreciate a punny character without much of a story, it might be worth a try.