Devil in A Blue Dress
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Movie Reviews of Devil in A Blue Dress
Movie Review: lharris21
Summary: 5 Stars
Just loved this movie with it turns of events and secret in this time piece. Love Don Cheadle character. Off course loved DenzelMovie Review: film noir in color
Summary: 5 Stars
40's flavor with up beat music and great characters.Suspense and action.Movie Review: Easy Does It!
Summary: 4 Stars
It is the end of WWII. Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins(Denzel Washington) returns from the war to find segregation,discrimination, and a decent job hard to come by. He has used the little bit of money he had to buy a house and car, but he must find a way to keep up the payments. A job does come his way, it sounds shady, but it's seems to be easy cash, so he takes it. The job...To find a missing woman named Daphne Monet(Jennifer Beals)...seems easy enough.Finding this mysterious woman, Easy, gets into trouble at every turn. Dead bodies start turning up all around him. The cops harass him,he uncovers political foul play, and a dark secret about the woman. Working with him is his old friend "Mouse" (Don Cheadle), who's answer to everything is shoot first and ask questions later. The "reward" for finding this woman and what she knows is growing as the answers start leading up the ladder of society. Is Easy's interest now for the money or the girl?
If you like the old style of film noir in movies like "Laura" or the newer modern film noir like "L.A. Confidential" you'll love "Devil in a Blue Dress". It's gripping, edge of your seat stuff.Director Carl Franklin and director of photography Tak Fujimoto give us a great look at this steamy side of Los Angeles in the 1940's.The musical score by Elmer Bernstein is wonderfully atmospheric, and the old rhythm and blues or"Shout and Jump" music by such greats
as T-Bone Walker and Duke Ellington are a great addition to 1940's feel. The cast also features Tom Sizemore and Maury Chaykin.
The DVD(Columbia Tri-Star) is a nice transfer. It is in widescreen, with a full screen version on the other side. Picture and colors are outstanding. The sound was good, dialouge a little low at times but still good. Features include Director's commentary during the film if you want, Don Cheadle's screen test and trailers. There are subtitles for those needing them.
All that is needed now is another EASY RAWLINS story..how bout it Review: First-Rate Movie, Great Acting, Great Atmosphere
Summary: 4 Stars
It's 1948 in Los Angeles and Easy Rawlins (Denzel Washington) is out of work, short of cash and late with a couple of house payments. He's offered $100 to find a woman named Daphne Monet, who is the missing girl friend of a candidate for Los Angeles mayor, a candidate who has just withdrawn from the race. Then people start to die and Easy gets set up for the fall unless he can quickly find out what's going on. To help him, he calls on a long-time friend named Mouse Alexander (Don Cheadle). With Mouse around, the bodies really start piling up. "You told me not to shoot him. I didn't. I choked him. If you ain't want me to kill him, why'd you leave him with me?" Mouse asks reasonably at one point.
The movie is based on the book by Walter Mosely. It has a great noir look about it of black life in forties L.A. -- bars, after hours jazz clubs, motels, street life, family life. It also has violence, race and racism, police who'd just as soon convict a black man as look at him, politics and political corruption.
There's strong acting by all the members of the cast. Washington brings his typical integrity and likeability to Easy, and Don Cheadle almost steals the show. Mouse is quick to kill, basically a psycho, but a great friend to have. Also noteworthy is Tom Sizemore as a ruthless, cold-blooded bad guy.
I've read somewhere that if the movie had done well Washington, Mosely and Franklin were planning to film another of the Easy Rawlins books. The movie didn't do too well and the financing evaporated. Too bad; the movie is excellent and the sequels might have been. The books are excellent, too. The DVD looks great.
Movie Review: A Different Kind Of Film Noir
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the kind of film that can stay with you for awhile after you watch it: a haunting kind of film that isn't always pleasant or easy to understand but you remember it. It also helps to have a fondness for the 1940 film noir movies and a fondness for stylishly-filmed DVDs.
It doesn't help that it appears racist in nature with people of one color all being the bad guys while people with another color all the good guys. If the colors were reversed, twould there have been an outcry over screenwriter-director Carl Franklin apparent bias?
Regardless, this is still a fascinating movie that just oozes with the 1940s atmosphere. Great narration in there, a la film noir, great automobiles and great sets. It puts you right into the late 40s in Los Angeles, a little bit like the film Chinatown.
Denzel Washington does a nice job with the narration and the lead role, the character of "Easy Rawlins," off the book by Walter Moseley (which I read and recommend). Tom Sizemore and Don Cheadle play very intense characters in supporting roles, particularly Cheadle as the trigger-happy "Mouse." Jennifer Beals is alluring as the mysterious "Daphne Monet."
The film is a bit confusing in parts and was especially so for me since the book was not exactly the same and had a totally different ending. Nonetheless, the film has always fascinated me and drawn me back for multiple viewings. It's good storytelling and it would be fun to see more of Moseley's books translated to the big screen.