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Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart , Josh Hartnett
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Black Dahlia |
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Two detectices of the LAPD, Dwight 'Bucky' Bleichert and Leland 'Lee' Blanchard, have to investigate the murder of a young woman named Elizabeth Short who was found horribly mutilated in downtown L.A. Both men are former boxers, appreciate each other a lot and use to spend their free time in the company of Lee's girl-friend, Kay Lake. While Bleichert decides to question Elizabeth's Short friends, Blanchard starts to take amphetamines and becomes obsessed with this case, locking himself up during hours in his room filled of the young murdered girl's photos.
Soon, Bleichert discovers that Elizabeth Short, nicknamed now the Black" Dahlia" by the journalists, patronized lesbians bars and even shot a couple of nudies. He meets Madeleine Linscott, the daughter of a wealthy real estate developer, who knew Elizabeth Scott, and starts an affair with her. Blanchard is killed during a police operation and Bucky and Kay Lake spend more and more time together. One night, Bucky realizes that the set of the Elizabeth Short's nudies is the same than the set of a well-known movie produced by the father of Madeleine Linscott. Based on a novel by James Ellroy and directed by Brian De Palma in 2005.
--Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar
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What's glamorous and comes with smouldering good looks but little depth? The answer isn't just Scarlett Johansson but her latest movie. Directed by the semi-legendary Brian De Palma, The Black Dahlia is nothing less than a crappy, insomnia-busting bore that shows the man who brought us Scarface and Carlito's Way lost his touch a long, long time ago.
Based on James Ellroy's crime novel, the movie revolves around cops Blanchard and Bleichert (Aaron Eckhart and Josh Hartnett) who are called in to investigate the murder of a young starlet in ‘40s Hollywood. And this isn't your average homicide. The poor girl has been beaten, disembowelled and cut in half in a case that shocks the nation. Blanchard's obsession with finding the killer soon begins to threaten his relationship with his gal Kay (Johansson), while Bleichert finds himself distracted by the sultry Madeleine (Hilary Swank), the daughter of one of the city's richest families, who has an unsavoury connection with the murderer.
De Palma's trademark elaborate tracking shots and camera swoops are all here which, together with the decision to bathe the film in a sepia tint, make this a technical tour-de-force. The tatty neighbourhoods of downtown LA are also well captured, evoking a city wreathed in cigarette smoke, populated by femme fatales and wise-cracking cops in sharp suits. But for all that, it's hard to find much to recommend about The Black Dahlia. Good-looking they may be, but there's not a decent performance from the cast, with Johansson really starting to show her limitations. Meanwhile, Eckhart and particularly Hartnett are simply too bland as the leading men. Then there's that plot. Ellroy's sprawling 600-page novel - based on the real slaying of 22-year-old Betty Short - has frequently been called unfilmable and on the evidence presented here, you can't argue with that. De Palma patently fails to keep on top of the many story strands which makes for a confusing and ultimately frustrating experience for us, the audience.
--afia ahmad, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Black Dahlia |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 25%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 35%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
How difficult to spot villain?
- Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
- Difficult, but some clues given
Time/Era of Movie:
- 1930's-1950's
Murder Mystery?
Yes
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 50%
- 80%
Murders of set profession?
- prostitutes/strippers/porn
- actors
Misc. Plotlets
- victim dies just after sex
Special suspect?
- lover
Kind of mystery?
- police procedural
Romance
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
- Female
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
- actor
Age:
- 20's-30's
Hair color?
- blonde
Hair style
- long, wavey (woman)
Body type
- ample bosom & buttocks (woman)
Unclothed?
- Chest and Buttocks
- Slightly see-through clothes
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Dumb
- Average intelligence
Physique
- very athletic
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- blonde
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavy
- (woman) long wavy
Body type
- ample bosom & buttocks (woman)
Unclothed?
- very tight clothes
How much in movie?
- 20%
- 40%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- not employed but independently wealthy
- actor
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
- blonde
Hair type
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn straight
- (woman) long wavey
Body type
- ample chest and buttocks (woman)
- average (woman)
unclothed?
- partially transparent clothes
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Intelligence
- Dumb
- Average intelligence
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- California
City?
Yes
City:
- Los Angeles
- Dirty, grimy (like New York)
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
- resort/hotel
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- gory visuals of deaths
- gory visuals of torture
Movie makes you feel...
- depressed/sad
- excited
How many deaths in film?
- 1
- 8 or more
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
- lesbians!
- actual description of sex
- seeing breasts
- seeing nude male butt
How much use of techno gadgets?
- 1 (None)
Kind of violence:
- guns
Unusual forms of death
- dropped from large heights
- decapitated
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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