The Black Dahlia on DVD (2006)

SAI81 from Tonbridge [Highly rated reviewer] , 17/09/2006

I was really excited about this one. James Ellroy's book is dense and brilliant, yes it looked all but impossible to carve a movie out of it but it had been done with LA Confidential, why not this one too?. Reasons for optimism piled up: Brian DePalma, back on the kind of film that made his name, a cast full of talent (and Josh Hartnett), posters and stills that suggested the macabre mood of the book had been done justice to.

Where did it all go wrong?

Elizabeth Short was an aspiring actress who, on January 15th 1947, was found dead in Crenshaw Los Angeles. She had been cut in half, her organs ripped out, her body drained of blood and her mouth slit open ear to ear. The killer was never caught or identified. Ellroy's book and DePalma's film don't attempt to tell the real story, instead they use this crime as a jumping off point for a complex noir.

Ellroy's Dhalia is a thick book, stuff would always need removing, but DePalma and screenwriter Josh Friedman have started in the wrong places. Almost all detail of the investigation is gone from the film. The Dahlia is a mere cameo, even as a presence, and seems incidental to events. This is a catastrophic miscalculation for several reasons. First of all the romantic and other entanglements of the two cops working the Dahlia case (Hartnett and Eckhart) an ex gangster's mol (Johannson) and a society girl (Swank) who knew Elizabeth Short aren't as interesting and, frankly, we've seen it before. The other problem that dropping most of the actual detective work from the film gives DePalma is that it makes the final act utterly ludicrous. The whodunnit is solved in a way that barely connects with anything else in the movie and is then explained by people we've barely met with motives that beggar belief.

On the plus side you'll never find a Brian DePalma film looking rubbish and this is no exception. The evocation of period is excellent and the whole film looks stunning (though DePalma's still stealing, look for shots from Double Indemnity and Vertigo) and this is where the chief pleasures of the film are found as there's precious little else to admire.

Hartnett is a blank presence as Bucky Bleichert ambling through every scene with the same expression and the same tone. Johannson is fine, she looks the part certainly, but she's little of consequence to do and, honestly, I'd rather watch Barbara Stawyck than watch Johannson trying to channel her. Hillary Swank is dreadful. She chooses a strange clipped accent that comes and goes more or less as it pleases and decides that's about enough as far as acting goes. However the worst performance comes from a ludicrously OTT Fiona Shaw as Swank's mother, you'll want to strangle her the second she speaks.

There are two performances though which keep the film from being more or less a dead loss on a performance level. Eckhart is teriffic in his limited screentime as Lee Blanchard, his coiled spring nergy bringing the film a fire it otherwise lacks. Even better is a film stealing Mia Kirshner as Betty Short. glimpsed in movies and audition reels (with Brian DePalma, offscreen, playing the director). She's wonderful as the innocent adrift, desperate to make it.

The Black Dhalia is a mess and that's a real shame as there's a truly great film in Ellroy's novel. Hopefully the upcoming film that puports to adress the real facts of the case will better serve Betty Short.

  51 out of 57 people found this review helpful

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cpfran from london , 18/02/2007

I didn't go in with any preconceived notion, just looking to be entertained and entertained I was!!The critics on this site should stop 'trying' so hard to be critics and just enjoy the movie.

Black Dahlia was one of the best movies i have ever seen. The plot of the movie was incredible, little bit of everything, action, sex, murder. Perfect actors were chosen,the visuals and cinematography were spot on. Strongly recomend to watch this movie.

  34 out of 49 people found this review helpful

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GreenwichPaul [Highly rated reviewer] , 19/02/2007

DePalma obviously spent a great deal of time and effort ensuring that his neo noir looked great. If only he could have put as much effort into the film's structure it may have been watchable, but, as it is, this is something of a disaster.

The Black Dahlia is badly paced, poorly scripted and hosts a range of acting styles that suggests that DePalma gave no direction to his actors; indeed, by the time Fiona Shaw starts camping it up you wonder if she had wandered in from a remake of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane,

This clearly could have been a terrific film and at times the darkness of the story and the superb cinematography hint at what could have been but that is little compensation for such a tiresome mess.

  26 out of 28 people found this review helpful

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a Vagrant from London, UK , 16/09/2006

I watched this at the cinema yesterday. To say it was a waste of £7.20 is an understatement. I seriously do not recall being in such a state of boredom for so long. I am a person who gives every film a chance even till the end. This time nothing happened. It is really slow. The plot could have been interesting but very poorly executed. Although some of the performances were ok, you could tell they were embarrassed to be part of such a poor project. Please believe me when I say do not watch this ever even if you were to be paid. Having said this, you could watch it just to experience an intense state of boredom like I did, but don't say I didn't warn you.

  24 out of 32 people found this review helpful

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Alicia Monroe from Cheshire , 03/05/2007

Put it this way, the title of this review is more entertaining than the film.

I have no idea why Harnett was picked as the narrator, he seemed bored with the film himself!. He had the worst voice i have ever heard, he mumbled all the way through, had no personality or emotion and is a ridiculously bad actor.

We all thought the TV had broken as the sound quality was so bad and had to keep rewinding as his voice was so boring we kept 'switching off 'and missing the plot.

If you have read the book, please do not watch the film, it's rubbish and cuts out the best bits, shame i really looked forward to this and they ruined it.

The 1 star i have given it is for Scarlett's outfits, her shoes were quite nice.

  7 out of 10 people found this review helpful

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A customer from Devon , 26/04/2007

I was really looking forward to this film but after what seemed like an eternity I gave up and switched it off! It was too slow moving and gave me a headache. I might try it again as I am sure that the ending is good but am in no rush.

  7 out of 10 people found this review helpful

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