The Singing Detective

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<HTML/>  </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="593" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="589"><div> <B>The Singing Detective</B>     </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="589"><div> Reviewed by Shelley Cameron</div> <div> for Reel Movie Critic </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="589"><div> HHH<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="589"><div> Cast</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div> Robert Downey Jr.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div> Dan Dark</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div>                      Mel Gibson</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div>  Dr. Gibbon</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div>  Robin Wright Penn</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div>                             Nicola/Nina/Blonde</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div>                      Katie Holmes</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div>   Nurse Mills</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Directed by Keith Gordon.  Film Noir/ Musical/Comedy. Rated R.  109 minutes. </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="588"><div> <B>Writer's electric Kool-Aid acid test</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Based on writer Dennis Potter's 1986 TV miniseries, this mixed bag is part song and dance, part film noir, and part psychodrama.  It's a perfect vehicle for star Robert Downey Jr.; perhaps more so for those who don't have the memory of Michael Gambon's Philip E. Marlow.  Dan Dark (Downey), writer of pulp fiction novels, suffers from a painful and debilitating skin disorder, intensified by stress, which has become so severe that he is hospitalized.  Not coincidentally, he also suffers from childhood trauma that plays heavily into the plots of his sex-and-death filled books.  For half the film, though covered head to toe in make up displaying grotesque skin lesions, Downey still manages to look pretty cute.</div> <bR> <div> Immobilized and unable to do the smallest task for himself, the writer works out his inner demons through the intricacies of his fiction.  Fighting pain and humiliation, he loses track of where his artistic musings leave off and real life begins.  His razor sharp wit and super quick mind always one step ahead, we are confused right along with him until the blurred lines begin to come into focus.  Firmly rooted in film noir, it's also reminiscent of "All That Jazz," and laced with some fantasy musical numbers a la "Mulholland Drive."  While not quite as accomplished as the British miniseries, Downey brings humanity to the role of this man who is caught in a nightmare.  His ex, Nicola (Robin Wright) treads the minefield of his erupting emotions at the same time that Dan, through his paranoia and pain, sees a different agenda.  What he needs is a little help from his friends.</div> <bR> <div> Enter Mel Gibson, delicious as an egghead psychotherapist whose thick eyeglasses magnify those famous eyes.  There's lots of detective work going on, much of it internally.  While Dan reluctantly probes his past with help from the doc, his fictional detective investigates the murder of a wonton woman.  His disease leaving him naked in more than one sense, Dan retreats into the fantasy world of his fiction.  Suddenly he's riding around in an endless pink Cadillac with cutie Nurse Mills (Katie Holmes) or crooning a tune in a smokey nightclub.  Helping us to sort out the multiple time frames are period songs from Johnny Ray, Patti Page, and Tommy Edwards, among others, whose lyrics help to move the narrative along.</div> <bR> <div> Within the limitations of a feature length film, it succeeds at retaining the essence of Potter, who in real life suffered from a similar disease.  Rounded out by fine performances from the supporting cast: Robin Wright Penn in a triple role, Jeremy Northam as Dark's fine foil, and Adrian Brody as half of a duo of ludicrous thugs tailing Dan Dark.  It's good, sardonic fun.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Shelley Cameron © 2003</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:shelley@reelmoviecritic.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:shelley@reelmoviecritic.com"><U><U>shelley@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>