X
- 2006
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 2 h 1 m
- 2006
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 2 h 1 m
Summary The Black Dahlia weaves a fictionalized tale of obsession, love, corruption, greed and depravity around the brutal murder of a fledgling Hollywood starlet that shocked and fascinated the nation in 1947 and remains unsolved today. (Universal Pictures)
Directed By: Brian De Palma
Written By: Josh Friedman, James Ellroy
- 2006
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 2 h 1 m
- 2006
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 2 h 1 m
The Black Dahlia
49
3.0
Where to Watch
Summary The Black Dahlia weaves a fictionalized tale of obsession, love, corruption, greed and depravity around the brutal murder of a fledgling Hollywood starlet that shocked and fascinated the nation in 1947 and remains unsolved today. (Universal Pictures)
Directed By: Brian De Palma
Written By: Josh Friedman, James Ellroy
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 35 Critic Reviews
49
26% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
60% Mixed
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
14% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 35 Critic Reviews
49
26% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
60% Mixed
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
14% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
Hartnett and co-star Scarlett Johansson--that most fatale of current filmic femmes--are naturals for this kind of noir-hued material, but the pairing of Ellroy and De Palma proves a marriage made in hardboiled heaven.
If this overcooked version of James Ellroy’s novel - inspired by a famous 1947 Los Angeles murder - is less than fully satisfying or even believable storytelling and acting, it’s still possible to get a kick out of this fever dream loaded with eye candy.
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 102 User Ratings
3.0
15% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
30% Mixed
31 Ratings
31 Ratings
55% Negative
56 Ratings
56 Ratings
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 102 User Ratings
3.0
15% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
30% Mixed
31 Ratings
31 Ratings
55% Negative
56 Ratings
56 Ratings
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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As Of Now (4/24/11) I Have No Clue Why The User Score Is So Low.. This Is A Good Movie Overall. Yes I Can Say Some Spots Arent The Best.. But It Is A A+ Effort... Rose McGowan Does A Great Job.. The Acting Was OK... I Loved The Writing/Plot.. Overall 8!
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"Chinatown" it ain't, not in any department. On its own level, however, new pic generates a reasonable degree of intrigue.
In writer Josh Friedman and director Brian de Palma's attempts to condense the book's convulsively odd final chapters, they've created an even loonier melodrama.
The Black Dahlia, looks so terrific and is filled with so many imaginatively showy sequences and masterful directorial touches that you almost don't notice that, in every other way, it's just not a very good movie.
It's a stilted thing--overstylized and inexpressive, like high-school kids playing dress-up, or bad Kabuki.
Even when engineering a howler like this, De Palma does it in such high style, with such a confident swagger, that the movie is half over before you realize how little is there.
The Black Dahlia is a very deceptive film. At first glance, it might seem like a classic neo-noir movie. A good cast, an interesting plot at first glance, a good transmission of the time of the late 40s of Los Angeles. But all this falls apart literally after 20-30 minutes. You understand that all this is just a screen, behind which lies a completely boring film. In which there is absolutely nothing to single out, this is a fiasco for a detective film. The Black Dahlia is a passing film that you don't want to waste time on at all. If you inspect the final, then disappointment from him awaits you.
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[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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This movie is gorgeously shot and De Palma's direction gives it a stylish touch... but man is this film a mess.
Before the murder even happens, we spend like twenty minutes learning things about the main characters that never come into play again. It's a big waste of time and then, once the plot actually starts, we waste even more time with a terrible love triangle, if you can even call it that. It's kind of confusing. I think that's what it is but I might be wrong. Either way, it's not good. The plot is insanely convoluted and hard to follow, even by film noir standards.
The performances are all over the place. Josh Hartnett is more wooden than ever, Scarlett Johansson is completely unremarkable, Hilary Swank is horribly miscast as a femme fatale and I don't even know what Aaron Eckhart is doing, but at least he gets some unintentional laughs.
The best performance is Mia Kirshner as Elizabeth Short, the black dahlia herself. She appears in the form of old audition tapes and ufortunately she has vey little screentime.
Unless you just wanna watch some admittedly creative shots, I can't really recommend this one.
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Where does one begin? I am surprised no other reviewers have mentioned the shove it down your throat cigarette smoking in nearly every scene. Was this movie funded by Phillip Morris? It was so blatantly obvious that the director had to have every character lighting a cigarette in every scene. After suffering through 1 hour of this tawdry and insufferable poor excuse for a movie I could not take it any longer and switched off.
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Production Company
Universal Pictures,
Millennium Films,
Signature Pictures,
Equity Pictures Medienfonds GmbH & Co. KG III,
Nu Image Entertainment GmbH,
Art Linson Productions,
Davis-Films,
Linson Entertainment
Release Date Sep 15, 2006
Duration 2 h 1 m
Rating R
Tagline Inspired by the most notorious unsolved murder in California history.
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
• 4 Nominations
Gran Premio Internazionale del Doppiaggio
• 3 Nominations
