Let's get this out of the way first: I love Brian De Palma's stuff. The guy is the ultimate trickster, who has not the slightest compunction about jerking his viewers' legs. Nevertheless, his films are beautiful and The Black Dahlia is no exception. Better yet, a first class cast really gets its teeth into a picture that is an exercise in noir storytelling. Anybody who goes into this movie with the idea that it will tell a serious story is doomed to disappointment.
If you recognize that the confused and confusing plot is nothing more than another De Palma joke at our expense expense and that the real mission of the film is to pay tribute to the wonderful noir stories about L.A. in the '40s of Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett, you are in for a treat -- at least if you are as big a fan of those dark and exciting stories as I am.
Don't let De Palma's joke get the better of you. Forget the plot and watch The Black Dahlia from the point of view of most of us when we saw the far more successful and approachable, Sin City. The Black Dahlia is never as overtly funny as Sin City but, it seems to me, it does a lot of the same sort of things. Recommended, 7 out of 10
If you recognize that the confused and confusing plot is nothing more than another De Palma joke at our expense expense and that the real mission of the film is to pay tribute to the wonderful noir stories about L.A. in the '40s of Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett, you are in for a treat -- at least if you are as big a fan of those dark and exciting stories as I am.
Don't let De Palma's joke get the better of you. Forget the plot and watch The Black Dahlia from the point of view of most of us when we saw the far more successful and approachable, Sin City. The Black Dahlia is never as overtly funny as Sin City but, it seems to me, it does a lot of the same sort of things. Recommended, 7 out of 10