The Black Dahlia

HUGE

I am an absolute fan of director Brian De Palma. Yes he does imitate Alfred Hitchcock in any way he can but he does it so well. I'm always in awe in how he can make his camera techniques work so elegantly with the actors.

I became a fan of James Ellroy's novels after reading L.A. Confidential. James Ellroy somehow manages to pack a punch in short sentences; the skill of a talented writer.

What a perfect match: a skilled noir writer and a master director. What they created is a movie of intrigue, suspense, and redemption.

Here's a little back story about the novel The Black Dahlia. When James Ellroy was a young man, his mother was murdered. Her death remains a mystery to James Ellory and unsolved to the police. He transferred those feelings into his research of the Elizabeth Short murder, which became later on known as the Black Dahlia case. Here was another unsolved murder like his mother's. This time he was able to solve the Elizabeth Short murder in his historical/fictional novel, The Black Dahlia.

Josh Harnett and Aaron Eckhart play detectives, Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard, assigned to solve the gruesome murder. The investigation follows a trail of femme fatales and pornography. Their obsession with Elizabeth Short consumes their lives and leads to their ultimate downfall. Both actors play their roles perfectly but it is actress Mia Kirsher who deserves the most acknowledgements for playing Elizabeth Short, who was once an aspiring actress.

The audience only sees Mia Kirshner as Elizabeth Short through screen tests. This is a smart plot device where the audience has a chance to guess who Elizabeth Short was. Was she a naive young girl in Hollywood who was in way over her head? Or was she a vixen who unknowingly at the last minute met the wrong people? Mia Kirshner plays the role both ways but also manages to get the audience to sympathize with her throughout the movie. In real life, Elizabeth Short was brutally massacred and her cheeks were sliced by a madman to appear as she was smiling. Mia Kirshner's performance reminds us that no one deserves to die that way. The Black Dahlia brings out the best in visual director Brian de Palma. This is a two hour movie and the camera does not stop moving nor slow down. Like L.A. Confidential this is another bestselling novel by James Ellroy brought to life perfectly on the big screen.

What Happened?
by Christian De Matteo

Wimpy

About ten years ago I read The Black Dahlia, and I'd never read anything like it. The book wowed me. Astounded me, floored me, made me realize only one modern writer was the heir to Raymond Chandler: James Ellroy.

As of that moment, I knew that one day, my Hollywood wouldn't disappoint me: They would make a movie out of this incredible book.

And they didn't disappoint me... well, not with the making the movie part.

And how could it go wrong with Brian De Palma at the helm? I don't know but it did. And it went horribly, horribly wrong.

I almost don't know where to begin, which is exactly the movie's problem. The film meanders in a way that Ellroy would never have his book to move. The book moved at a breakneck pace, intense, grisly and unstoppable.

The movie, however, wanders like a drunk at 4 at closing time, never remember the address he started out looking for. Josh Hartnett's character is never sure if he's solving a mystery, obsessing over a dead woman, or just trying to get laid as often as possible.