Fedoras and cigarettes. Twisted crime plots and gritty male voice-overs. Shadowy rooms and femme fatales.
These are the things I associate with film noir, and The Black Dahlia -- directed by Brian De Palma -- had them in abundance.
The Black Dahlia, the screen adaptation of James Ellroy's novel, follows the lives of two L.A. cops as they try to solve the murder of wannabe actress Elizabeth Short.
Josh Hartnett's (Lucky Number Slevin) character "Bucky" Bleichert, and Aaron Eckhart's (Thank You For Smoking) Lee Blanchard, are made partners after boosting the police station's public image in a boxing match.
When the body of Elizabeth Short is found in a field, with her mouth sliced from ear to ear in a gruesome parody of a smile and her body cut in half with her blood drained, the partners are assigned to a special team to find the murderer.
The two in the course of the investigation delve into the twisted life of the girl, who the press dubbed as "the Black Dahlia," hence the name of the book and movie.
However, the duo gets too personally involved in Short. It begins to take over Eckhart's life, and Hartnett's is not impervious either.
Underneath the main plot that chronicles the investigation, many subplots emerge. One is a love triangle between Eckhart, Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson's character, Kay Lake.
Another is a past case that is about to come to the forefront as a criminal that Eckhart put in jail is getting parole. There is something darker involved, however, then just simple revenge.
Through it all is the classic whodunnit question of the decade.
The main problem of the film is that it tries too hard. The acting, which is supposed to emulate the melodramatic style of classic '40s films, falls flat. It doesn't work in our time, even though you can see what they are trying to do.
Johansson was simply horrendous, which was such a disappointment because usually I like her work. However, you could just feel her acting -- it was tedious and it jostled you out of the film.
Eckhart, as well, overacted for style, but it did not work.
However, Hartnett was decent as Bucky -- his voice-overs set the tone perfectly.
The plot I think is more suitable for a novel. It is very intricate and it doesn't work in the short amount of time provided by a movie format. In fact it is not really cohesive or coherent for the most part. At the end you leave the theater thinking "What just happened?" and I would challenge you to actually come up with a response.
The moment of epiphany when Hartnett figures everything out needs to be made more clear. The movie almost loses itself in the details. It tries to bring in too many of the subplots that could work nicely in a book, but just end up being confusing and drawing attention away from the main points in the movie.
That said, I do recommend the movie. My interest was caught the entire time wondering who did it. I think it's an interesting fictionalized story about what actually is an unsolved murder.
Also, I think the writers and directors brought out the interesting concept of a cop getting obsessed with the victim and how caring too much could end up costing him his personal life and career.
The clothing and scenery are also worth seeing.
The movie seems to be hit or miss with who likes it, but I do recommend seeing it as a thought-inspiring take on one of the most sensational unsolved murders of the century. Grade: B-
-- Review by Brianna Labuskes
