Absolutely brilliant

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Interesting late film noir, let down by some plot and casting flaws. David Janssen plays the quasi-detective character Tom Adler with an affected booziness; he's not imposing enough to make this Marlon Brando-mumbling-in-a-slick-suit thing work. I do like that his job is nebulous; he seems to have to explain himself repeatedly. It's as though, in true noir fashion, he's really not sure who or what he is.As others have noted, Dina Merrill looks positively middle-aged when she's supposed to be just twenty in the Tokyo flashback. Thankfully, Agnes Moorehead, William Demarest, and Jacques Aubuchon inject Twenty Plus Two with enough life to sustain interest.I like how the reviewer pierrotlunaire0 pointed out the plot holes. I can sort of see Tom falling for Linda all over again, especially as she keeps throwing herself at him. But it's just too convenient that she's also friends with Nikki, his other lost love. Since we never see the 'grown-up' picture that her mom shows him, we don't know that he then suspects that Nikki is Doris. At least that part of the mystery works well.Then there's Brad Dexter's Leroy, who is the actual murderer, going free and easy because he framed Doris. The cabin-in-the-sticks denouement is stagey; but for all of its exposition, it still doesn't add up. How is it that Dane, of all people, doesn't recognize Doris/Nikki until she tells him who she is? Why did he have to kill his buddy anyway? Doris had fled, knowing she had shot Lane. She's still in hot water, and, given the mores of the times (in 1948, even in 1961), her pregnancy makes it worse for her.Lane would have to fear repercussions from her wealthy family; but she'd probably be so relieved when she discovered that she hadn't killed anyone, that nothing more would happen. On the other hand, given that Dexter's character recreates himself as Lane, and became a celebrity, he should've at least been under suspicion as a rapist, if not a murderer.Well, if we can squint our perception of the plot, there are those larger-than-life performances from the supporting cast to entertain us. The flasback sequence is masterfully set up by its ascending webs of smoke signalling Adler's reverie. Thanks to the black and white filming, we not so far from the smoky, boozy, hat-wearing late 40s noir golden age. The editing is pretty good too; we're not allowed to get too comfortable before sweeping into another scene. The exceptions would be the interlude with Agnes Moorehead, which was so good it even made Jannsen look important, the cool 'interview' Tom has with the down-and-out bum in the bar, and the scene in the cabin, which dragged a bit. I'd have been happier with Doris and Tom's scene under the tree giving us a little more, and then letting the shoot-out happen quickly.The music was irritating at times. Kind of like the nervous demeanor Janssen displays when he's not mumbling. Like others, I wonder what the title refers to. The better noir movies have abrupt, dangerous sounding titles that hint at what we're going to see. Other than a presumption that Doris is about twenty years old when she's in Tokyo, there's no twenty, or two, or twenty-two of anything here. Still, a fun movie, with a good premise and some fine scenes.

Watching this movie was an easy way to spend a lazy afternoon, but the moment I thought about the plot, it fell apart.Spoiler #1: David Janssen meets Dina Merrill, and apart from asking, "Haven't we met before?", accepts her word that they have never met. Until a good half hour deeper into the movie, and he suddenly remembers they had a passionate (albeit brief) affair years ago. Why doesn't he remember her? Well, back then she was a brunette, and now she's a blond. Oookay.Spoiler #2: The con man character wants to hire David Janssen to find his long lost criminal brother. Dina Merrill was raped by the same criminal brother. Turns out that the criminal brother is now a top movie star. And nobody recognized him? Save your money, con man, and go to the movies once in a while. The criminal brother/now movie star is presented as a huge star, such that when he walks through a hotel lobby, excited teen fans mob him. Oookay.Spoiler #3: Jeanne Crain is supposed to be the woman who broke David Janssen's heart, the woman who sent him a Dear John letter that sent him into a tailspin. They reconnect at the beginning of this movie, and in spite of the pain she caused him, David Janssen can't resist her. Except, once he finally recognizes Dina Merrill, it is as if Jeanne Crain never existed. Oookay.Odd little movie, with the music score at times blaring as if it were having convulsions.

This certainly should not be classified as a real "thriller" but, as a mystery film it was a decent watch. I was intrigued to hear the story behind special investigator Tom Adler's (David Janssen) American born geisha girl Nicki Kovacs (Dina Merrill). The story has flashback scenes to when Tom Adler was a lieutenant stationed in Japan when he meets Nicki Kovacs at a Japanese nightclub.. Nicki is one of the private dancers/geisha girls at the nightclub who provides the sombre looking Tom with an ear to listen to his woes, and a couch to sleep on overnight. By morning Tom has fallen in love with the mysterious Nicki but he loses touch with his war time crush and over the following decades he cannot get her beautiful mysterious face out of his dreams and thoughts.Do not expect any James Bond or Mike Hammer physical action scenes as David Janssen is not your action Jackson type of detective. No, Tom Adler is more a wussy heartbroken type of detective who is good at his job at finding missing persons to which his firm gets a handsome reward for finding long lost loved ones. In this film, ironically enough Tom Adler is having a difficult time finding his own long lost love, his American born geisha girl Nicki Kovacs.No spoiler here. Suffice to say that Twenty Plus Two is a decent mystery film with a decent ending to which I give the film a decent 6 out of 10 rating.

I must admit that I expected more from the Joseph Newman's last picture. I thought that it was an authentic film noir, not necessarily with plenty of action, but intriguing, breathless, well done; with a plot not tepid as the one in this feature.The story of a private eye - Janssen - who investigates on a murder and meets a bunch of protagonists; as usual in this kind of production. An unbelievable tale, and complicated at the most. But the music score, jazzy, is adequate as the surroundings. I think it's the only positive point of view about this movie.David Janssen is also rather good in his character, as Brad Dexter, Agnes Moorehead and Jeanne Crain.In short, it's not a corny picture, but if you miss it, I think you'll be able to live without it.