Devil in A Blue Dress
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Movie Reviews of Devil in A Blue Dress
Movie Review: Denzel Washington stars in a fine, suspenseful film.
Summary: 4 Stars
A tight, atmospheric detective drama set in post-war Los Angeles, "Devil in a Blue Dress" is an unjustly neglected gem. Denzel plays Easy Rawlins, a private eye investigating a woman's disappearance, but he's in way over his head. Before the story is over, there are seductions, murders, blackmail, abductions, and gunplay, and Easy is forced to fight for survival with every ounce of guile and grit he can summon. The film noir plot has a dozen unpredictable twists and turns, and the supporting characters are colorful. Don Cheadle, Jennifer Beals, and Tom Sizemore all turn in solid performances.Movie Review: Uniqueness amongst Conventionality
Summary: 3 Stars
`Devil in a Blue Dress' quickly creates a very appealing misé en scene that's constructed upon upbeat and sunlit scenery. Combined with director Franklin's dexterous dolly movements and smooth camera techniques that follow the always-charismatic Denzel Washington around the culturally diverse streets of 1948 Los Angeles, it makes you want to throw your imagination into its storyline for a few hours. With brooding and insidious male characters, beautiful and mysterious female characters, voiceover narration by the protagonist, and a gradually revelatory, detective-like storyline we get the sense that we're watching a more-colorful-than-usual film noir. There's no question that it couldn't have been setup much better; it's too bad that it slowly-but-surely dissipates away into the realm of conventionality. As far as underrated acting goes - Tom Sizemore is spectacularly sleazy as the coldhearted DeWitt Albright and Maury Chaykin is his usually creepy self as the political Matthew Terell. Easy Rawlins (Washington) is a familiar character - he's a man who will do just about whatever he has to do in order to earn some cash, although he's proud of his dignity and won't sell himself short. He's also more amiable and compassionate than the average man is, which is what ultimately differentiates him from the bad guys of the story. The lesser-seen element here, however, is that he also happens to be Afro-American. It's refreshing to see a film concentrate upon this culture without trying to dictate too many things to us about it - race is an element of this film, but it's not a particularly prominent or overblown one.
A myriad of different characters are introduced - sometimes it seems as if the film is actually relying upon the appearances of new characters in order to progress the plot, and even then some things aren't made very clear. I understand that the writers were simply trying to convey the sheer volume of the situation that Easy has gotten himself into, but its lack of tautness just gets annoying after a while. And there is a cool aura of mystery surrounding the plot until you realize that it's simply going down the all-too-familiar cinematic road of political corruption. The final theme of an average man achieving complacency through oppression is well communicated, but couldn't it have been done in a slightly more interesting/original/unique way?
Movie Review: "Are you on top of that trouble of not?"
Summary: 3 Stars
Denzel Washington stars as "Easy" Rawlins, a down-on-his-luck factory worker in 1948 Los Angeles. Easy has just lost his job and desperately wants to keep his house. When he's approached by DeWitt Albright (Tom Sizemore) to do some private eye work, Easy hesitantly agrees for the right price. All he needs to do is track down a white woman named Daphne, who's engaged to an LA mayorial candidate. Apparently, Daphne (Jennifer Beals) has been known to date black men, so Albright thinks Easy might have more luck tracking her down. Easy soon regrets taking the job, though, as other people are looking for Daphne as well.
"Devil in a Blue Dress" didn't do very well at the box office, grossing just $16 million dollars, and is not one of Denzel's more well-known movies. Unfortunately, the plot is a bit muddled at times and just not as interesting as one would hope. In addition, the seedier elements of the story are somewhat glossed over, making it rather tepid for a neo-noir. Although it's not a great movie, it deserves to be better known. In particular, the film's neo-noir tone makes it a notch above the typical mystery, and it's one of the few noirs to feature black actors. The film was also beautifully produced, with a very realistic recreation of 1940s LA. The Elmer Bernstein score and jazz music add great flavor as well. Finally, the acting is very good - Denzel gives a sly performance, and Don Cheadle scores some laughs as Easy's violent friend. All in all, "Devil in a Blue Dress" is a solid movie that will probably be enjoyed by Denzel fans.
Movie Review: See it for the acting
Summary: 3 Stars
If you've read the book, you'll be disappointed in this. It's faithful to the plot, with one important exception: what happened to the sexual heat between Easy and Daphne that was so important to the book's story? Without it, you wonder why Easy would bother chasing down this woman once he doesn't have to. The general atmosphere is somewhat lacking. We know Easy has a hard time finding decent work due to racism, but we never get a sense of how desperate he is for money (and thus not lose his house) as we do in the book. Also, the screenwriter seems content to merely recycle typical (i.e. cliched) private eye/hard boiled/noir dialogue in place of using language as fresh as that found in the novel. Plus the first half of this film seriously drags.
Why, then, do I give it three stars and insist that it's worth watching? Simply put, Denzel Washington is terrific. He really brings Easy to life. Don Cheadle is also excellent as his psycho buddy Mouse. Most of the supporting cast do superb jobs as well. Though Jennifer Beals isn't gonna win any Academy Awards with this kind of performance, she does fine.
Worth renting and watching once. Not necessarily worth owning unless you're a big Denzel Washington fan.
Movie Review: Very good performances hung on not much substance.
Summary: 3 Stars
Devil in a Blue Dress (Carl Franklin, 1995)
I'm still attempting to figure out what to say about this movie after two weeks. Usually, this is a sign that it simply didn't leave enough of an impression on me to say much of anything, but at least I liked it.
Easy Rawlins (Denzel Washington), an out-of-work electrician, is hired by an acquaintance of a friend to go looking for Daphne Monet (Flashdance's Jennifer Beals), the missing fiancee of a political candidate in an upcoming election. There's more to it than that, of course, but this is a movie where things tend to get complicated and spoiler-laden very quickly.
The movie is chock full of good performances, notably Washington and Don Cheadle as his friend and partner Mouse. The problem is that these performances exist in a vacuum; the movie never really comes together, with wooden dialogue and a paint-by-numbers plot that sacrifices a good deal of the subtlety of the novel. It's a decent genre mystery flick, but it's not what it could have been. ** ½