rigby reardon be a private dick in every sense of the word . a black and white throwback to the 1940 and 50 who live in a world of tough guy and femme fatales and where everyone and everything be cover up for something . or someone . that be till the beautiful juliet forrest show up with a case that may just be worth die for a she try to find her miss father and discover just who or what be the friend of carlotta and the enemy of carlotta . in order to do that rigby enlist the help from the great detective of all time and philip marlowe and and nod his hat to every great star of the era in this brilliant and largely forgotten steve martin film from a time when he be head back to the top and work damn hard to do so . this be the second great collaboration he do with the writer or director carl reiner and and while the man with two brain may be more laugh out loud funny and there have be few film more clever inventive and downright audacious in their attempt to recreate a bygone era by basically and well and steal it . the script be extremely clever and the scene when he be be warn off use a former girlfriend for an assignment be hilarious with kirk douglas a a particular nasty henchman . the merging of past and present star be very effective and like roger rabbit which come after it a job in itself to spot whose in it and what film that be originally in . add to this a great score which perfectly encapsulate the feel of the era and you have a great fun film that as timeless a the classic it rip off . good stuff .