The Black Dahlia

The Black Dahlia

Directed by Brian De Palma

Written by Josh Friedman based on the novel by James Ellroy

Universal

For most De Palma enthusiasts, he probably hasn't made a great movie since 1987's The Untouchables, and some might concede Mission: Impossible in 1996. In between those two films, he made some box office failures that I thought were good: Casualties of War and Carlito's Way; but he was best known in this period for his ultimate failure in Bonfire of the Vanities. Ever since 1996, De Palma has made three disappointments in Snake Eyes, Mission to Mars, and Femme Fatale. In the seventies and eighties, De Palma made tricky thrillers reminiscent of Hitchcock--movies like Body Double, Dressed to Kill, and Blow Out, surrounded by pop fare like Carrie and Scarface. When he does the tricky thriller, he seems to be having his most fun.

Which is why it was strange that Snake Eyes and Femme Fatale were such poor attempts. Present in both of those films were some of De Palma's trademarks: unbroken shots, doubles, trick endings. The man behind the camera seemed to be enjoying himself, but the movies were sloppy; not very compelling, disappointing in the build-up-to-payoff ratio. And here, as he adapts James Ellroy's novel concerning the freaky murder of Hollywood hopeful Elizabeth Short, the same sort of muddled disaster takes place.

When I heard that De Palma was adapting Ellroy, my hopes were high. But something was in the back of my mind--this movie is getting a September release? Could it be that bad? Unfortunately, it is. It's very bad.

The Black Dahlia is about two detectives, Dwight Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) and Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) who have been given a big promotion after some shady dealings involving a rigged boxing match between them. Things are moving merrily along until Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner) is murdered and Blanchard becomes obsessed with the case to the detriment of his job and his personal life, which includes girlfriend Kay Lake (Scarlett Johansson). There's a pseudo love triangle between Dwight, Lee, and Kay, as they all go out together as one. But Lee and Kay have secrets they keep from Dwight, which will be uncovered in due time. Some of it has to do with the parole of a man they both knew. Meanwhile, during Dwight's own investigation, he runs into femme fatale Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank) who may or may not have been involved in the whole ugly Elizabeth Short mess.

Curtis Hanson did the impossible with Ellroy's L.A. Confidential--he cut out sections of an incredible book, changed or deleted characters, and came out with one solid piece of filmmaking that was probably the best film of 1997 even though it lost to Titanic in the Oscar race. Adapting this book successfully was nothing short of a miracle. I haven't read this Ellroy novel, but I know things have been cut out for the same kind of reasons--condense into a two-hour movie, eliminate too much confusion.

But it is confusing--there are tons of characters and it is hard to keep track of everybody's names, tons of subplot elements that may or may not tie into the main plot, double crosses and lies. What's the worst thing about The Black Dahlia? Wretched acting. Aaron Eckhart may give his worst performance ever--I was shocked because I have never found him to be bad in anything. There's a shrill psychotic performance by Fiona Shaw, who plays Linscott's mother. Swank, who has proved to be a dynamite actress, fails miserably in playing her character with this heightened "dame" accent that I used to see made fun of by Kelly Coffield on "In Living Color" when she played a woman in black and white while everything else was in color around her. Josh Hartnett has never been a great actor, and Johansson is given nothing--after I thought she was going to be a real ballbreaker as she entered with tough-as-nails lines and casual cool-as-hell smoking--she turns into the usual wilting flower.

Oh yeah, and that "distracting" love scene between Johansson and Hartnett? I don't know what the hell anybody is talking about on that. It's pretty standard fare--the pre-coitus, implied it will go further, cutting before there's anything close to nudity. There is some sort of ripping at clothes and knocking stuff off a dinner table. But come on...distracting for the rest of the movie? Please.

The mystery itself could have been compelling--but this is such a mess, such a chore to sit through, it doesn't even matter.