Black Dahlia, The Review

"Black Dahlia, The" reviews

Movie

Black Dahlia, The

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-11-17 22:37:54

Rating

2/5

Provider

CinemaSource

Review

Although The Black Dahlia admirably coalesces James Ellroy's searingly brilliant noir novel into a sharp, streamlined screenplay, director Brian De Palma's campy approach and questionable casting sever the style from the substance as brutally in two as its titular victim.

Story

A fictional fever-dream mystery crafted loosely from the notorious, still-unsolved 1947 murder of wayward wannabe starlet Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner), the tale teams two rising L.A. police detectives whose bone-crunching boxing bout give them political juice—Mr. Ice, cool young Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) and Mr. Fire, hotheaded veteran Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart). Both men become embroiled in and obsessed with the sick, horrific crime, even as Dwight falls hard for Lee's victimized, world-weary live-in love Kay Lake (Scarlett Johansson)—with Lee's unspoken approval: he's too busy spiraling downward into a psychotic fixation with solving the murder, having previously lost his sister to foul play. But Dwight's also led astray by the more carnal temptations of voracious Madeline Sprague (Hilary Swank), the daughter of a bizarre high-society family with her own shadowy connections to the Dahlia. Sordid subplots abound, simmering and swirling as in death the Black Dahlia threatens to suck everyone into an ever-widening abyss.

Acting

Not entirely an epic of miscasting, the film nevertheless falls short finding performers to essay Ellroy's compelling cast: Hartnett demonstrates more depth here than in most previous efforts, but comes fathoms short of the necessary mix of drive and angst to suit the complex role. Although she physically conveys a maturity beyond her years, Johansson shows none of the wounded wisdom of the novel's Kay—her seductive, ethereal air would, with an ebony dye job, have served her far better as the Dahlia herself, a cipher who becomes, in the eyes of those obsessed with her, whatever they dream her to be. Conversely, Kirshner delivers in that elusive, spectral role, but the been-around-the-block-one-too-many times faded glint in her eyes would have made her a much more involving Kay. Eckhart has the spit and polish of a political-minded cop down pat, but lacks the self-destructive inner fire that fuels the façade. Swank is mostly delightful, by degrees—many of her choices are intriguing, occasionally outrageous and give her femme fatale needed dimensions, but others are overindulged.

Direction

There are certainly macabre, grand guignol moments in the story that make it more akin to Sunset Boulevard than its more obvious comparison, Ellroy's own L.A. Confidential, but De Palma—never known for his subtlety—handles them with such an overt, determined campiness, any wry irony is wrung from them. The result is more of a parody—indeed, an unflattering caricature—than a modern commentary on classic noir style. Add in his ceaseless, camera-swooping swipes from Hitchcock and his ongoing fixation with meaningless gore—ham-fisted homages and hemorrhaging hemoglobin, to ape Ellroy's alliterative gossip-rag riffs—that distract from the intensity of the source material, and all that remains is a bloody shame.

Bottom Line

Hollywood.com rated this film 2 stars.

Movie

Black Dahlia

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-09-14 00:00:00

Provider

MyMovies

Review

Adapted from the novel by James Ellroy, "The Black Dahlia" is a gritty, multi-layered crime thriller brought to the silver screen by director Brian De Palma .

Set in crime ridden 1940s LA, at a time where there were as many criminals coming out of Hollywood as decent pictures, the film centres largely around detective partners Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert (Josh Harnett) and Sgt. Leland "Lee" Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) as they attempt to solve the murder case known as "The Black Dahlia." When a young aspiring actress is discovered brutally murdered, the investigation commences. However anyone expecting a conventionally linear resolution to the murder is likely to feel disappointed. Considering the subject is based on a true and as yet unsolved murder, this is unsurprising. While the movie does make its own conclusions to the case, the investigation is riddled with so much conspiracy, and tied in with a multitude of sub-plots, that the film could lead to a glut of head scratching amongst audience members.

Combined with some truly dazzling cinematography and period detail, the all star cast (Scarlet Johansson and Hilary Swank are the two female leads) ensure that the picture carries its narrative weight. De Palma, most famous for directing "Scarface" and "The Untouchables," is also on fine form - one particular two minute crane shot would have Robert Altman and Orson Welles applauding.

Overall "The Black Dahlia" is a highly enjoyable picture. Unfortunately given the complexity of the case itself, the riddled plot may not appeal to all. However, with such fine performances and directing working in tandem it's hard not to walk away from the cinema with an air of satisfaction.