The Singing Detective
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.94 You Save: $10.04 (67%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Singing Detective
Movie Review: wasn't quite right
Summary: 3 Stars
In 1986 I saw The Singing Detective on PBS. It starred Michael Gambon and was simply incredible. It was probably one of the top ten miniseries to ever show up on TV. So, when I heard that Robert Downey Jr. was doing a movie version I was excited.
There's something wrong witht this movie and I can't quite put my finger on what it is.
Robert Downey is a fine actor and does a good job with a tough role as Dan Dark, a writer in the hospital suffering from a combination of arthritis and psoriasis gone beserk. He looks ghastly, feels ghastly and behaves viciously towards the hospital staff who force him to see a psychiatrist played astonishingly by Mel Gibson. Betweeen Mel's acting and makeup you'd never know it was him.
Dan is in such pain that he's hallucinating and when he's not doing that he comforts himself by thinking about his first book, The Singing Detective. It's set in the 50s and all the songs Dan sings come from that era as well. As he get's better and reluctantly works with the doctor Dan is forced to relive the worst thing that ever happened to him.
The movie largely stays faithful to the original material but somehow I didn't feel the same sympathy for Robert Downey's version of the character as I had for Michael Gambon. The father isn't as tragic and the mother didn't have the same impact. Robin Penn playing the ex wife was extremely unattractive. And the ending came just a litte to easy in this version and would tick off anyone who's been seriously ill either physically or mentally.
This version of Singing Detective is like Brahms being played by a music box. It's music but it doesn't compare to Brahms being played by a great musician. Buy the Gambon version instead or just watch this one on TV.
Movie Review: Weirdly compelling
Summary: 3 Stars
The tagline for this film tells you everything - "all clues, no solutions." It never does clearly reveal which parts of the story are reality and which parts are merely the products of Dan Dark's fevered imagination. This is frustrating on some level, but it also spurs a lot of questions and post-viewing conversation.
Robert Downey, Jr. uses his unique intensity to good effect here; who can doubt Downey as a tortured but brilliant man on the edge? It's fun to see well-known actors in the other parts, especially Adrien Brody, although Robin Wright Penn seems out of place - she's too spare and sharp to have the right noir look, especially in the sexier scenes. Carla Gugino, on the other hand, is absolutely perfect in each of the roles she plays.
I haven't seen the original British mini-series, so I can't offer comparisons there, but I will say that this film makes me curious to see the other. I don't think that the film is a "failure" outright, but it does leave the reader with so many clues and so few solutions that I can see how it would have had a lot of trouble finding an American theatre audience. Still, I think it draws the viewer in with its strange fusion of plots and genres.
Movie Review: Downey, Jr. nails his performance down.......worth the watch
Summary: 3 Stars
Robert Downey, Jr. (Two Girls and A Guy, In Dreams) plays Dan Dark, a man who is in the hospital because he has a bad skin disease which Dark says in the movie "Pizza Face". Dark goes into his own mind where he remembers things about his childhood and his book, The Singing Detective comes to life, even the characters appear in front of him. Robin Wright Penn (The Pledge, She's So Lovely) plays Dark's Wife, Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon 1-4, What Women Want) under makeup plays Dark's Doctor, Katie Holmes (Batman Begins, The Gift) plays one of Dark's Nurses and Adrien Brody (The Jacket, The Thin Red Line) and Jon Polito (With Friends Like These...The Crow) portray gangsters. Also starring Jeremy Northam (Gosford Park, Mimic), Alfre Woodard (The Forgotten, Mumford), Saul Rubinek (Badassss!, True Romance), Carla Gugino (Sin City, The Jimmy Show), David Dorfman (The Ring, The Ring Two) and Lily Knight (Tv's Buffy The Vampire Slayer). The story kinda is dull at first but by the end where the man starts to become himself again and he's faced with his inner demons the movie is irresistable. Downey, Jr. is astonishing and he nails the part good. I cant decide for you, you be the judge.Movie Review: PSYCHOLOGICAL STUFF
Summary: 3 Stars
Robert Downey jr. plays Danny Dark, a writer of pulp fiction novel called "The Singing Detective." He is hospitalized with a skin disorder which apparently is psychological. His shrink is played by Mel Gibson, in an unorthodox role for him. Dark's novel is based on events in his childhood, making characters from people he had met. Danny is delusional and imagines things in the present, confounding the people in real life with the characters in his book. The dialogue in the movie is excellent. If you enjoyed the dark humor of the Joker in the Dark Knight, you will enjoy the ramblings of Downey early on. The real problem with the movie is that you realize that all the action in the film is delusional. As far as real action and plot, the film moves along as a one man play. Bad language, simulated sex, no nudity.Movie Review: SOMETIMES SINGS
Summary: 3 Stars
When Robert Downey is in session with his psychiatrist to cure his depression from a rare disfiguring skin disease, this movie truly 'sings' The quick witty banter between the two could have justified the whole film. But when the 'singing detective' imagines his new detective yarn we're treated to what looks like a long Robert Palmer music video from the '80s. Real empty-headed stuff. Also, childhood trauma lies at the root of this mystery and that goes way against the grain of the detective film noir style the movie was certainly aiming at. Uneven is the word.