Devil in A Blue Dress
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Movie Reviews of Devil in A Blue Dress
Movie Review: better than average book to movie
Summary: 3 Stars
Don Cheadle had the best lines. But the casting of Jennifer Beals and her makeup was a huge mistake, ruined the plot. I had read the book & as soon as she appeared I thought WTF. Imagine her as a blonde and it makes more sense.Movie Review: Who played Coretta?
Summary: 3 Stars
I've read all the reviews and still have to see one that mentions Coretta...who played her in the movie? I thought she was stunning.Movie Review: The devil put me to sleep...
Summary: 2 Stars
Despite all the critical praise, `Devil in a Blue Dress' never found an audience, or so says the Amazon review. Honesty, I agree with the audience and not the critics. The main problem I had with `Devil in a Blue Dress' is that it had me on the verge of sleep, and that's never a good thing.
Recently I've been watching quite a few film noirs that just don't seem to get it right. `Devil in a Blue Dress' is one of those films. It tries hard, that's for sure, but in the end it fails to capture anything more than a simple mood, but that mood isn't maintained long enough to hold my interest. That mood actually induced heavy eyes.
The film follows Ezekiel `Easy' Rawlins, an unemployed war-vet in 1948 L.A. With a mortgage and no job with which to pay it, Easy finds himself playing detective for a shady white man who wants to find a young white woman. This particular woman is not all that she seems and soon Easy finds himself in a world of trouble; or at least that's what I think happened. Like I said, I was in and out of consciousness throughout this entire episode. The film borders on meandering and I just couldn't help but doze off here and there.
The acting doesn't really help the matter. Tom Sizemore is uninteresting, but not nearly as uninteresting as Jennifer Beals. Denzel Washington is dreadfully mediocre here. His voice over I think is what did it for me, as far as putting me to sleep. He has a very smooth voice, which is good in general I guess, but when you couple that with poor story development then you have the recipe for disaster. His overall performance is poor as well. This style of film doesn't seem to suit him well. I like Denzel subdued, but subdued in more of a repressed way, where you can see the emotions billowing beneath his surface (ala `Man on Fire') as apposed to subdued in a solemn and lifeless way (ala `American Gangster'). There is no emotion in Washington here and that draws away from the film considerably. I felt like there was no reason for me to care, thus no reason for me to pay attention.
And then there was Don Cheadle. Seriously, where was the Academy here (sleeping I presume)? Cheadle's performance here is hilariously on point and deserves the utmost respect and accolades. As Mouse, Cheadle was able to single-handedly wake me up from my boredom induced stupor and make me pay attention to the last half of the film. In fact, Cheadle was the only reason I didn't turn the film off (at one point I told my wife to just wake me up when Cheadle came back on the screen). How he missed out on an Oscar nomination (the year was a good year and the category was tight) is understandable yet disappointing since his performance is honesty brilliant.
In the end I can't really recommend this film though, which is sad since Cheadle really pulls it out. The overall feeling this film leaves me though is not enough to cause me to recommend it in the least. Carl Franklin's direction is poor and the script he wrote (adapted from Walter Mosley's popular crime novels) does nothing to elevate his film. There just isn't enough of anything to hold this film together; no substance, no importance. There are many other crime noirs out there that actually hit the mark (`L.A. Confidential' for starters) so if you're in the mood for a noir look elsewhere.
Movie Review: Seriously Miscast
Summary: 2 Stars
I loved the book, so I rushed to see this movie when it came out. Walter Mosely is listed as an "associate producer" but I wonder who ultimately cast this movie? Denzel is perfect as Easy, Tom Sizemore is perfect as Albright but Don Cheadle was miscast as Mouse. In the book, he's described as light-skinned and handsome ( a ladies' man ) but small in stature. I pictured a guy like Giancarlo Esposito in the role. Also, Cheadle could not do the deep southern accent Mouse speaks with in the book.
But the most serious miscast was Jennifer Beals as Daphne a/k/a "The Devil in the Blue Dress", she was way too old for the part! In the book she was a beautiful teenager, 16 or 17 ( I can't remember exactly ) that could pass for white. Someone maybe like Lisa Bonet or even a young white actress should have played her. With this crucial error, the plot failed to make sense.
Movie Review: Good directing is wasted by a confusing and boring plot
Summary: 2 Stars
I saw some good reviews for this movie so I got it on DVD and it was absolutely boring. The plot is too confusing. I wish the same effort was put in to a movie with a decent plot. Denzel Washington put in a good performance which also goes to waste. If you read the book...