The Fair Cheat

How can a seemingly ordinary looking nickel be so valuable? An eccentric and worn down PI becomes mired in a case that only gets more complicated when an old flame re-surfaces. A tightly constructed short that is the first step of a larger plan, this comic modern noir is both a celebration and deconstruction of the genre. Nickels is Fletch meets Chinatown, Thomas Magnum meets Double Indemnity, Axel Foley meets The Maltese Falcon. He's a Dick. And he solves mysteries.

A young girl Grete, who is the fresh, natural type that one can meet everywhere, is looking for a job. A friend entrusts her with the secret of how to behave: She must find out what hobby her future boss has and lead the conversation into what interests him. In doing so, she has found the key to success. She wants to apply for a position at "Morgenbladet" and here she meets the young man Anders. He is a boy for the magazine's various departments. It turns out that Grete and Anders have a common interest - crime novels. He dreams of becoming a crime reporter at the magazine. He has a Sherlock Holmes talent and his imagination does not fail either. A fake coin gang is at stake and he and Grete sit down to expose it. By chance, they grab one of the counterfeit banknotes and hope to catch the counterfeiter along the way. In their investigation, they come across a series of incredible intricacies. They break into an apartment one night that they think is the counterfeiter's, but it turns out that it belongs to a confessional who is employed by the police. They chase a concert singer who has issued a fake note and they come under the company of the prima donna, where they perform as serving staff, next to the most upsetting and annoying experiences. Of course, they find the master of the counterfeit coins and reveal him, but before that, Grete is kidnapped by the counterfeit coin. She is bastardized and bound and for a moment the scene alternates between excitement and fear. But everything resolves itself in the end, as it should.

Stereo Times, a sensationalist entertainment network, has financial problems. The CEO, Guillermo Radolph Ears is on the brink of breakdown. He gets help from a reckless photographer named Gary. Both of them, in search of striking news, plunge into the criminal world of a decadent city full of violent and extravagant characters. A drunken Irishman with a melancholic past in search of meaning, the bloodthirsty daughter of a fearsome Russian mobster, and an Italian family with temper issues : these are a key reason for the city not being a great tourist destination.

Twelve episodes between comedy and horror, telling the madness of a frenzied August 15 in Naples.