Directed by: Steve Franks
Written by: Steve Franks, James Roday
Starring: James Roday, Dule Hill, Maggie Lawson
IMDb Link
There are two things I should say before I begin.
First, I love Psych. It's one of my favourite shows of all time, so I have considerable bias when talking about this show. That shouldn't be a surprise here, as most people watching a movie based on a show are doing so because they were fans of the show, but should be said because I may be more inclined to ignore weaknesses in the experience than in favour of emphasising the strengths.
Second, after reading about the film's troubled production, I find it difficult to rate this movie. For those that don't know, series mainstay Timothy Omundson suffered a stroke after the writing of the film was completed, and the film had to go through an incredibly rushed re-write in order to compensate while still being ready for shooting. The cracks in the story's structure and a couple of individual scenes are incredibly apparent, but at the same time I can't imagine doing anything better with only 48 hours to write the script. This understanding combined with my inherent bias towards the show makes it difficult to maintain any sort of purely experiential review, so my word will either be tainted by these factors or potentially over-compensated for in an attempt to consider the final product regardless of outside factors.
*No spoilers for this one*
The Psych gang is back, and investigating an attack on Juliet's new partner in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Shawn is trying desperately to find his engagement ring to Juliet, which was stolen from them in the series' finale, Gus is dealing with an obsessive stalker of a woman who's eerily like him, and Chief Vick's daughter is caught up in some shady dealings.
In terms of tone, the series is pure Psych: complete silliness in favour of ever taking anything seriously, even joking in the face of death or cracking wise during shootouts. Shawn and Gus' chemistry is as perfect as ever, and their constant banter never failed to get a smile from me. "Don't be the comma in Earth, Wind and Fire" was a personal favourite jab, one of many that Shawn and Gus lightly throw at each other almost effortlessly. Juliet and Chief Vick are much the same as they were in the series, unfortunately more relevant to the plot than as characters this time around. Eccentric villains with hilarious flourish populate most of the rest of the cast, and all of them bring a light-hearted vibe to the whole affair: Zachary Levi as "Thin White Duke" was a personal highlight, effectively annoying enough that even his henchmen are fed up with him. However, I can't ignore Nathan Mitchell as "Black Gentleman Dandy"/"Black Gentleman Ninja": he spins a fancy cane-sword around as he politely informs Shawn and Gus of their impending death, only to be applauded by Shawn and Gus as he does various dashing sword tricks. It's delightfully silly, though occasionally absurd, even for Psych, and the silliness clashes with the terms of the actual plot content, which involves serious murder and kidnapping. This isn't the first time the silly show tackled more heavy content, murders were the subject of every other episode, but here it plays overwhelmingly so at times, and while as a fan it's impossible not to enjoy, it also seems amplified only to cover the weaknesses in the film's script.
48 hours is no kind of time to write a feature script, and Psych: The Movie is a perfect example of why this is true. The overall idea is strong, but ancillary plot or character threads are either only tangentially related to the main plot or are essentially filler. The characters themselves feel like they've gone through a bit of a soft reset as well, especially Shawn: the completion of his arc at the end of the series was overcoming his commitment issues to be with Juliet, and while the arc he goes through in the film is fine, it's also essentially the same arc he went trough in season 8.What's more, there's a decided lack of actual detective work in this detective series-based film: it takes up the first half of the film to an extent, but it's all dropped in favour of rushing to the final act and giving an otherwise satisfying denouement as hurriedly as possible. Also, while the writing contains all of Shawn and Gus' trademark chemistry and several callbacks that will tickle Psych fans nostalgia bones, the structure is all over the place, a problem that's present in the film's editing as well.
The moment-to-moment editing is mostly fine, standard TV cut that doesn't move much and is mainly there to watch the actors sell the whole thing. However, the structural editing in the film is messy as hell, with it seeming as if several scenes are missing, leaving the audience to connect the dots.
One last thing, since Carlton Lassiter was my favourite character on the show: Timothy Omundson's scene was hard to watch, but I admire the dedication to being a part of the film in even a small way. Despite the apparent after-effects of a stroke, he played his one scene well, and it was good simply to have a token of him there.
The Short Version: Psych: The Movie isn't quite the return to form I was hoping for, but after being without new episodes for a couple of years, it was great merely to see the old gang slip seamlessly back in to their roles. If you're a fan of the show, this is worth the watch, if not a particularly good episode; if you've not seen the show, do it, it's light, it's clever, and the characters have actual development in such a surprisingly light show, which allows for some considerable emotional moments.
Rating: Like I said, it's really hard for me to reconcile what I know with what I experienced, and therefore really hard to rate this movie, so without a lot more thought I'd just be spit-balling the number. I'll say 6.5/10 for now, and note any changes I make as I mull over the film.
Published December 10th, 2017
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