Devil in a Blue Dress
TriStar Pictures | Release Date: September 29, 1995 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
It's the film's glowing visual qualities, a striking performance by Denzel Washington and the elegant control Carl Franklin has over it all that create the most exotic crime entertainment of the season. Read full review
100
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Writer and director Carl Franklin ("One False Move") scores a triumph in using the brooding atmosphere and racial tension of the sun-kissed, seedy City of Angels to reveal character and reclaim a neglected past that ace cinematographer Tak Fujimoto brings to vivid life. Read full review
100
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Director Carl Franklin, who also adapted the screenplay from Walter Mosley's prize-winning novel, isn't particularly concerned with the machinations of mystery plots. Nor is he seduced by the temptations of noir visual style (although Tak Fujimoto's camera work is plenty stylish). Read full review
90
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
In the process of drawing audiences into the twists and turns of a knotty detective tale, Mr. Franklin and his cinematographer, Tak Fujimoto, open up an enticing and languorous lost world. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Franklin's picture is effortlessly wise beneath its entertaining surface. Read full review
90
Washington PostHal Hinson
Few films are more assured in their storytelling or build more forcefully, irrevocably toward their resolution. Read full review
90
The New YorkerTerrence Rafferty
A modest, skillful, unfussy genre piece that tells an exciting story and lets its more serious concerns remain just below the surface, gently complicating the smooth-flowing rhythms of the narrative. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
What's most memorable about it is the period flavor, including a detailed and precise account of the jim crow complications blacks had to contend with. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Schickel
Writer-director Carl Franklin's cool, expert adaptation of Devil in a Blue Dress, Mosley's first novel, evokes the spirit of '40s film noir more effectively than any movie since Chinatown. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRobert Faires
On the mean streets, Devil is okay; but it's something special when it gets to Easy's street. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie is entertaining on its own terms, and Washington's warmth at the center of it is like our own bemusement, as together we return to the shadows of noir. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Easy isn't much of an acting challenge, but Washington's mix of charm and intensity creates an appealing personae. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Washington, no surprise, is terrific, his sensitivity offset with touches of knowing, self-deprecating humor. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
Franklin juggles it all with wit and style, and suddenly you feel fine that this is only Mosley's first Easy Rawlins novel. Several more are just waiting to be adapted. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
What stays with you finally is not the mystery's byzantine twists and turns, which are fun but don't resonate very deeply. It's the time, the place, the palpable feel of community. [2 Oct 1995, p.85]
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