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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Just as all the detective
work couldn't solve the real life murder at the
heart of the film "The Black Dahlia," all the
technical skill in the world can't save Brian De
Palma's film from a flawed screenplay, casting and
performances. De Palma certainly has the skills as
a director to create intricately plotted thrillers
but here his muse deserts him leaving the audience
with a fading flower that lacks the fragrance and
color to make a lasting impression. Based on James
Ellroy's critically acclaimed novel of the same
name, "The Black Dahlia" takes its own stab at
solving the mystery of one of the most perplexing
murders to occur in Los Angeles in the 40's.
Perhaps it's his lack of organization as a
director at this time in his career but "The Black
Dahlia" fails to ignite coming across as a
technically y accomplished storytelling disaster
with a lack of a cohesive narrative. De Palma
manages to make "Dahlia" look marvelous with a
number of stunning set pieces that lack the strong
story to make them more compelling.
"Dahlia" focuses on the most infamous unsolved
murder in L.A.'s history. Dwight Bleichert (Josh
Hartnett), Bucky" to friends and his partner Lee
Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart who should have been cast
in the lead) investigate the murder of Elizabeth
Short an aspiring actress whose dismembered body
is discovered in a vacant lot. Most disturbing of
all is the way the killer has carved up the body
with surgical precisely even altering the woman's
mouth by s lashing it to form an obscene looking
clown-like smile. ***
After the promising set up the film becomes a
rambling mess; Bucky takes up with Madeleine
Linscott (Hilary Swank completely miscast) who is
a dead ringer for Short. Screenwriter Josh
Friedman in adapting Ellroy's story could have
pruned Ellory's story for the screen (much as was
effectively done with "L.A. Confidential")
focusing on the main story elements that made the
novel so fascinating. Instead, we're all over
creation with a variety of subplots and elements
that distract from the main story.
If looks could kill, this DVD would be guilty of
murder. Lush and atmospheric looking the film
looks marvelous in a nice, detailed transfer.
Colors are robust and Vilmos Zsigmond's
cinematography is given its due. Audiences will be
able to make out the nicely detailed period décor
and production design. Audio sounds marvelous as
well. De Palma and his sound editor clearly
haven't forgotten the importance of sound in
enhancing the ambience of a film. Unfortunately,
it's all for not as the story being told is a
mess.
It's a pity that there's no audio commentary as it
would have been interesting to hear of the
compromises and issues that might have undermined
the crew from making the film succeed. Perhaps
there weren't any issues behind-the-scenes that
undermined the film but it's hard to tell without
hearing about it from the director, writer of the
script and other key production crew. I'd also be
curious to hear about the casting process for this
film. The film is so completely miscast (much like
De Palma' "Bonfire of the Vanties") that even with
a better screenplay I doubt that the film would
have been a complete success. The only actor that
truly holds his own in this film is Eckhart.
Three sharp featurettes are included as extras
here. "Reality and Fiction compares the film's
story (and Ellory's novel as well) to the real
case. Ellroy had his own solution to "The Black
Dahlia" that doesn't quite hold water
(particularly in light of the recently republished
book Severed: The Case of the Black Dahlia which
completely discounts Ellroy's theory) and was
motivated by the murder of his own mother creating
his own personal tie to the story.
"The Case file" runs just under 21 minutes and
provides a solid behind-the-scenes glimpse into
the production of the film. There are lots of
talking heads and some nice footage shot on the
set combined with clips from the film to provide
an interesting glimpse into the movie making
process.
"The De Palma Touch" gives us insight into the
visual look of the film focusing on the director
and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond's approach to
the film.
Unlike "L.A. Confidential" the most successful
translation of one of Ellroy's noir thrillers to
the screen, "The Black Dahlia" gets caught up in
its own complex story and it tangles up De Palma
tripping him and his collaborators. The poor
casting decisions and weak unconvincing
performances by much of the cast (save Eckhart who
isn't given enough to do on screen) conspire to
snuff out any chance that this film will succeed.
It's a pity while "The Black Dahlia" looks
marvelous its clear that the creators of the film
had as few solid clues to go on as the detectives
in the real case did initially. |
