The Singing Detective (2003)

From his hospital bed, a writer suffering from a skin disease hallucinates musical numbers and paranoid plots.

Director:

Keith Gordon

Writers:

Dennis Potter (screenplay), Dennis Potter (television series)

Stars:

Robert Downey Jr., Robin Wright, Mel Gibson

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Dan Dark
Robin Wright	...	Nicola / Nina / Blonde (as Robin Wright Penn)
Mel Gibson	...	Dr. Gibbon
Jeremy Northam	...	Mark Binney
Katie Holmes	...	Nurse Mills
Adrien Brody	...	First Hood
Jon Polito	...	Second Hood
Carla Gugino	...	Betty Dark / Hooker
Saul Rubinek	...	Skin Specialist
Alfre Woodard	...	Chief of Staff
Amy Aquino	...	Nurse Nozhki
David Dorfman	...	Young Dan Dark
Eddie Jones	...	Moonglow Bartender
Lily Knight	...	Woman Physiotherapist
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Visiting Japanese Doctor

Storyline

"While hospitalized with an extreme case of psoriasis, novelist Dan Dark reworks his first book in his head. Feverish, paranoid and prone to musical outbreaks, he confuses himself with his protagonist, a detective investigating the murder of a prostitute in 1950s Los Angeles."

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Plot Keywords:

1950s | murder | book | detective | musical number | 

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Taglines:

When it comes to murder, seduction and betrayal he wrote the book. Now he's living it!

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Musical | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content, language and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Eagle Pictures [it] Official site [uk]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 November 2003 (UK)

Also Known As:

El detective cantante

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$28,324 (USA) (24 October 2003)

Gross:

$336,456 (USA) (30 January 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Icon Productions, Haft Entertainment, Airborne Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At one point, David Cronenberg was in line to direct the film, with Al Pacino in the lead.

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Goofs

When the First Hood and Second Hood are driving away in their vintage car in the 1940s, you can clearly see the reflection of a lit, modern, Los Angeles skyscraper in the window of the backseat.

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Quotes

Dan Dark: There are things in that book, doc, that are reaching out to grab me by the throat.
Dr. Gibbon: Why don't you let them?

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Crazy Credits

During the end credits we see Robert Downey Jr. perform the song "In My Dreams"

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Connections

Featured in Anatomy of a Scene: The Singing Detective

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Soundtracks

"Important Words"
Written by Gene Vincent and Billy Davis
Used by Permission of Beechwood Music Corp. (BMI)
Performed by Gene Vincent
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Great Cast and Direction Drive Compelling Update of Dennis Potter's Classic

The 2003 film version of THE SINGING DETECTIVE is by turns funny, scathing, and poignant, a woefully underrated look into a writer's psyche. If you don't have time to watch Dennis Potter's landmark TV miniseries (also available on home video), Potter's screenplay for this movie version (written 2 years before his untimely death) does a great job of condensing the story of novelist Dan Dark's (Robert Downey Jr.) battle with severe chronic psoriasis and personal demons. Throughout the movie, the bitter, suffering Dark weaves in and out of reality and delirious re-imaginings of the people and events in his life as they'd appear in the titular novel starring Dark's tough private eye alter ego. Actor-turned-director Keith Gordon stages this wild ride through Dark's mind with a style that owes as much to David Lynch and the Coen Brothers as it does to Potter. The British miniseries' lip-synched 1940s musical set pieces are retooled as American 1950s rock 'n' roll numbers -- call me a Philistine, but I think the updating works even better than the original (and believe me, I loved the original)! As a writer, I found THE SINGING DETECTIVE to be a fine example of how one's life and experiences creep into one's writing no matter what genre you write in. Each and every member of the stellar cast is letter-perfect, with particularly good, sharp chemistry between Downey and, respectively, Robin Wright Penn (I've always loved her name; it's especially appropriate for someone playing a writer's wife :-), and producer Mel Gibson (as Dark's seemingly goofy but astute and compassionate therapist, Gibson is all but unrecognizable in bald drag; Greg Cannom's F/X makeup serves both Gibson and Downey well). It's a shame THE SINGING DETECTIVE didn't do better with critics or at the box office, or Downey probably would've been a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination. I could empathize with Downey as the bitter, clever, pain-racked (physically and emotionally) Dan Dark even when he wasn't acting particularly likable. The versatile Downey could be a Bogart for the Aughties if he could keep his own personal demons under control. I also enjoyed seeing our household fave Adrien Brody in a relatively lighthearted (for this film :-) role as one of a pair of Dark's fictional hoods with a bumbling streak. Jon Polito completes the pair; he and Brody are like an amoral Abbott & Costello. Their repartee cracked me up, especially their "Patti Page" exchange early in the film. Give this new SINGING DETECTIVE a try next time you're in the video store and in the mood for something different. If you rent the DVD and like it, watch it again with Keith Gordon's commentary track on; he has lots of intriguing and entertaining things to say about the making of the film, particularly about the cast and how he and his crew got those great surreal effects on a low budget.