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Black Dahlia (The)

Country: USA, Language: English, 121 mins

  • Director: Brian De Palma
  • Writer: Josh Friedman; James Ellroy
  • Producer: Rudy Cohen; Boaz Davidson

CGiii Comment

Think: L.A. Confidential stripped of talent...Hartnett is totally miscast and is out of his comfort zone - if anything, he under-acts and really needs a stout kick in the arse - his diction is an incomprehensible monotone.

Eckhart over-acts.

Nothing in this expensive film works - it suffers from being over-produced, a simple case of throwing money hoping that it will stick - it doesn't.

Where this film fails spectacularly - you are always aware that it is a film - it does not drag you in, there's no engagement, walk out, fast forward at anytime and it won't matter because it is disposable, something to fill time.

De Palma's career has more misses than hits - if you miss this you won't be missing anything.


Trailer...

The(ir) Blurb...

In 1946, the former boxers Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert and Lee Blanchard are policemen in Los Angeles. Lee has a good relationship with his chief and uses a box fight between them to promote the department and get a raise to the police force. They succeed and are promoted to homicide detectives, working together. Bucky becomes a close friend of Lee and his girlfriend Kay Lake, forming a triangle of love. When the corpse of the aspirant actress 'Elizabeth Short (I)' is found mutilated, Lee becomes obsessed to solve the case called by the press Black Dahlia. Meanwhile, Bucky's investigation leads him to a Madeleine Linscott, the daughter of a powerful and wealthy constructor that resembles the Black Dahlia. In an environment of corruption and lies, Bucky discloses hidden truths.

Cast & Characters

Josh Hartnett as Dwight 'Bucky' Bleichert;
Scarlett Johansson as Kay Lake;
Aaron Eckhart as Lee Blanchard;
Hilary Swank as Madeleine Linscott;
Mia Kirshner as Elizabeth Short;
Mike Starr as Det. Russ Millard;
Fiona Shaw as Ramona Linscott;
Patrick Fischler as Deputy DA Ellis Loew;
James Otis as Dolph Bleichert;
John Kavanagh as Emmett Linscott;
Troy Evans as Chief Ted Green;
Anthony Russell as Morrie Friedman;
Pepe Serna as Tomas Dos Santos;
Angus MacInnes as Capt. John Tierney;
Rachel Miner as Martha Linscott