25 Best Detectives of All Time
Total Film|January 2023
From craggy PIs to slick super-sleuths to tenacious journos, the movie detective is a genre-defining figure almost as old as cinema. Join us, then, as we celebrate those who variously use their brains, brawn and/or bravado to crack crimes, right wrongs and dole out justice, one clue at a time.
By Dave Bradley, Tim Coleman, Richard Edwards, Matt Glasby, Jamie Graham, Joel Harley, James Mottram, Neil Smith, Paul Tanter
25 Best Detectives of All Time

25 FLETCH CHEVY CHASE, JON HAMM

KEY FILMS Fletch (1985), Confess, Fletch (2022)

Made famous by Chase (and respectably rebooted with Hamm), investigative reporter Irwin M. Fletcher might not be good with deadlines but he's a stupendous sleuth, keen on disguises and fake names (Dr. Rosenpenis, John Cocktolstoy), and good on roller skates...

KEY CASE Drug trafficking on Los Angeles' beaches, "the shame of the city".

24 BRENDAN FRYE JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT

KEY FILM Brick (2005)

A high-school student who operates like a Dashiell Hammett detective, Brendan isn't afraid to get his hands dirty to find his lost love. Despite the film's heightened style and hard-boiled dialogue, the look in his eyes says it all: this is for real.

KEY CASE The disappearance of his ex, Emily (Emilie de Ravin).

23 AXEL FOLEY EDDIE MURPHY

KEY FILMS Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)

Motormouthed Detroit 'tec Axel Foley takes to Beverly Hills like a fish to water. A piranha in everyone's Evian that is, causing a scene wherever he goes, trampling red tape and biting privileged white folks on their flabby asses. Murphy's charisma matches '80s Cruise - Beverly Hills Cop was the first of seven Murphy films on the bounce to open at number one.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM TOTAL FILMView all
Back With a Vengeance - Sir Ridley Scott returns to the Colosseum with Gladiator II, the long-awaited sequel to the greatest historical epic of this century. Total Film meets the director and cast to discover how Maximus' legacy is echoing in eternity.
Total Film

Back With a Vengeance - Sir Ridley Scott returns to the Colosseum with Gladiator II, the long-awaited sequel to the greatest historical epic of this century. Total Film meets the director and cast to discover how Maximus' legacy is echoing in eternity.

Ridley Scott is not a filmmaker to repeat himself. It's a trait that's all the more remarkable when you consider how prolific he's been over the nearly five decades since his feature debut, 1977's The Duellists. Alien prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant are the only times he's gone back to the same world, and those films are radical departures from the original.

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 2024
Bad Romance - Timestalker Alice Lowe falls in love with the wrong man time and time again...
Total Film

Bad Romance - Timestalker Alice Lowe falls in love with the wrong man time and time again...

Her antidote to that? Timestalker a dark not-quite-romcom set over the course of centuries. Her protagonist Agnes finds herself attracted to the same man, Alex (Dunkirk's Aneurin Barnard), in every lifetime as she's reincarnated in the 1680s, 1790s, 1980s and the 22nd century. As romantic as that may sound, there's a bit of a catch: 'He's sort of a dickhead. On the surface he's appealing, but under, he's not.'

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024
McQueen & Country
Total Film

McQueen & Country

A moment of national pride and terror comes to the screen with World War Two historical drama Blitz. Total Film speaks to writer/director Steve McQueen and his stars Saoirse Ronan and Stephen Graham about uncovering the truth and celebrating the triumph of a defining moment in modern British history.

time-read
7 mins  |
November 2024
'I WAS, AND AM STILL, SURPRISED BY EVERY OPPORTUNITY. I'VE BEEN CONTINUOUS AND FEEL AT THE TOP OF MY FORM' JEFF GOLDBLUM
Total Film

'I WAS, AND AM STILL, SURPRISED BY EVERY OPPORTUNITY. I'VE BEEN CONTINUOUS AND FEEL AT THE TOP OF MY FORM' JEFF GOLDBLUM

Seth Brundle. Dr. Ian Malcolm. Grandmaster. Jeff Goldblum has played some titanic characters over his 50-year career, and is celebrating a half-century on our screens by going bigger than ever. First he played Zeus in Netflix show Kaos, and now he's the Wizard of Oz in Wicked. Total Film meets the man behind the curtain...

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 2024
STICKY SITUATION
Total Film

STICKY SITUATION

Seven years on from his last big-screen appearance, marmalade's biggest fan returns for Paddington in Peru. Total Film talks to director Dougal Wilson, actor Hugh Bonneville and the visual-effects wizards who make the magic happen...

time-read
9 mins  |
November 2024
BORN TO BE WILD
Total Film

BORN TO BE WILD

BROTHERS IS THE MOST SURPRISING ACTION COMEDY OF THE YEAR, AND NOT JUST BECAUSE JOSH BROLIN AND PETER DINKLAGE PLAY CRIMINAL TWINS. TOTAL FILM ROUNDS UP THE STARS TO TALK ABOUT DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES, THE 'HARD AS NAILS' COMEDIES THEY GREW UP WITH, AND MASTURBATING MONKEYS...

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 2024
TRIPPING THE LIGHT FANTASTIC
Total Film

TRIPPING THE LIGHT FANTASTIC

ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT Payal Kapadia's film shows the Mumbai you've never seen...

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2024
HUMPH DAY BOGART: LIFE COMES IN FLASHES
Total Film

HUMPH DAY BOGART: LIFE COMES IN FLASHES

Behind every great man is a great woman. Or in Humphrey Bogart's case, four great women...

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2024
CALLING THE SHOTS
Total Film

CALLING THE SHOTS

NEVER LOOK AWAY Lucy Lawless directs a bio-doc about a trailblazing camerawoman...

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2024
A FAMILY HEIRLOOM
Total Film

A FAMILY HEIRLOOM

THE PIANO LESSON Malcolm Washington's feature debut is all about family...

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2024