The Black Dahlia (2006)

Waste of time

The Age of Commercialism

Absolutely Fantastic

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Brian De Palma's Black Dahlia 2006 Venice openerBrian De Palma's eagerly anticipated "BLACK DAHLIA", which officially opened the 63rd Venice Film Festival was screened for the press this morning with the screening immediately followed by a packed house press conference. Principal actors, Josh Harnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart, and Mia Kirshner (who plays the gruesomely murdered Elizabeth Short of the title) were present as well as director De Palma and writer James Ellroy, on whose novel regarding the famous unsolved L.A. murder case the film is based. Ms. Johansson looked much better in person than she did in the film, (is this the next Lana Turner?), handsome Josh (he was in "Pearl Harbor" a few seasons back) looked younger in person than in the film, Eckhart, with a scruffy beard and shirt open at the neck, looked every bit as tough as the hard-boiled detective he plays in the film, and Mia Kirshner looked rather demure in contrast to the 'come hither' cheapie porno actress and "Black Dahlia" murder victim she so effectively and winsomely portrays in a relatively limited role. Scarlett Jo (how long will it be before the tabloids start calling her that?) --seemed very much at ease before the large Italian press gathering, looking and expressing herself (y'know ) rather more like just a very good-looking young gal from L.A., than the superstar diva she is rapidly becoming. In any case this is a very good-looking young lady, not at all hard on the eyes, although in the film, De Palma somehow managed to make her look almost doughty or borderline Plain Jane. The press screening ended with a scattering of polite clip-claps – not exactly what you would call an enthusiastic reception. On the plus side, the look of the film is gorgeous – only to be expected as lensed by ace Hungarian DOP Vilmos Zsigmond, and the period reconstruction -- costumes, hats, cars, hairdos – even down to minor details like a newspaper report almost at the edge of the frame, on the death in a plane crash of opera star Grace Moore – is, if not 100% perfect, certainly one of the best for its period I've seen in many a moon. The personalities of the characters as created by the various actors, all in very good form – even Hillary Swank, whom I normally can't stand – are quite engaging and believable – all, that is, except for Scarlett Johansson, who comes off phony and stagey -- quite the opposite of her total convincingness as the femme fatale of Woody Allen's "Match Point" last year. Whether this is the result of insensitive direction on the part of De Palma or the demands of a role too complex for the as-yet not fully experienced actress, or a combination of the two factors – is hard to say, but one thing is sure – this is not going to go down as one of the highlights of Ms. Johansson's film career. On the other hand, both pugilistic detectives, "Fire and Ice", respectively -- Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart – are both likely to come out of this as highly sought after screen properties. Hartnett for his good looks and vulnerability, Eckhart for his gritty neo-Gene Hackmanism. Mia Kirshner is also particularly touching in her few scenes, especially the one in which she does a take on Vivien Leigh in GWTW, almost bringing that long-gone star back to life for a few seconds of screen magic. However – humph-humph – much as I was longing to love this film because I love the period and the L.A. of the period it was just too long, too klunky, and too confusing – too much work, for most audiences I think, to figure out just what the hell is going on, and why! I found it hard even to fathom the unquestioning and unflinching faithfulness of detective Bleichert to detective Blanchard (Hartnett and Eckhart) which is crucial to the entire tale. Although the real Black Dahlia murder was never solved, in the Ellroy version we actually find out who really dunnit – a whole family of screaming nutcases – and, by the way, Fiona Shaw is especially outstanding as mother-nut of the whole butchering clan. (Just to keep track, she's Hillary Swank's mother in the flick) – I would not mind seeing this movie again just to enjoy the personalities of the actor's but I wouldn't recommend it, either to Scarlett Jo fans, or to people in need of a story that makes sense and hangs together.

The Black Dahlia, 2006.*Spoiler/plot- In 1940's Los Angeles, two LAPD detectives get involved in the famous gruesome murder of a Hollywood starlet.*Special Stars- Aaaron Eckhart, Hillary Swank, Scarlett Johanson, Josh Harnett. DIR- Brian De Palma. *Theme- Things are never of what they seems, even to detectives.*Trivia/location/goofs- Exteriors shot entirely in Los Angeles.*Emotion- A confusing detective story artificially wrapped up in the famous murder case of the 1940s. Very seedy plots and violence in this film seems to be gimmicks to make the film more interesting that it really is.*Based on- The Los Angeles 1940's Black Dahlia murder case.

I saw a trailer for Black Dahlia. It suggested the movie would be too intense for most people. They lied.Most of the movie is watching Josh Hartnett and the other players smoke. Granted people in the 1940s idled there lives away chain smoking, but from a cinematic view, it is B O R I N G.Most of the first half of the movie seems to be about endless unconnected routine police work. In the second half, the complex chains of criminal motivation are explained. However, they are so intricate, they made no sense at all to me.Mr Hartnett is very handsome. They often show him shirtless, and even with his bare bum. However, the character he plays has all the charisma of a boiled turnip. Every once in a while, he explodes in anger. I could not understand what triggered him. Normally he is very phlegmatic.The two female leads I found repulsive. They are airheads. They do nothing with their lives. They try to manipulate men with Mae West crudity and vamping about in lingerie. They are just silly.Fiona Shaw, as the wealthy, conceited, tipsy, candid mother was a hoot. Her performance was over the top, but the movie needed something to grab your attention.

No. It wasn't just the presence of that little "dimple-chin", Aaron Eckhart, who ultimately ruined this utterly pretentious "Cop" movie for me. But Eckhart sure played a major part in bringing The Black Dahlia (TBD, for short) down to its sub-par level, but fast.TBD was the sort of below-average picture that quickly encouraged this viewer to keep his remote firmly in hand with index-finger waiting impatiently to press the fast-forward button at a split-second's notice.Here's a movie whose 2-hour running time could have easily been edited down to 90 minutes. And it's also a movie which proved that director Brian De Palma is clearly no longer a master of his craft as a film-maker (as he was once considered to be by many film buffs).As well - TBD was an atrociously dull and totally inaccurate re-telling of a true murder case that had shocked the public silly and sent the LAPD on a wild-goose chase back in 1947.Regardless of its $50 million budget and its meticulous attention to period detail, TBD was far from coming close to being a first-rate production on any level.And when it eventually came down to this film's final revelations (concerning the true identity of Elizabeth Short's murderer), it was such a stupid, laughable joke, that it wasn't even worth the 110-minute wait at all.