From his hospital bed, a writer suffering from a skin disease hallucinates musical numbers and paranoid plots.
Director:
Keith Gordon
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Title: The Singing Detective (2003)
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1 win & 3 nominations.
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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 | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
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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." Written by Mag-Helder Thélot
Plot Keywords:
detective | writer | detective novel | fantasy sequence | hallucination |Taglines:
When it comes to murder, seduction and betrayal he wrote the book. Now he's living it!Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated R for strong sexual content, language and some violence | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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Edit
See more on IMDbPro »
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
14 November 2003 (UK) See more »Also Known As:
El detective cantante See more »Filming Locations:
Los Angeles, California, USAEdit
Box Office
Budget:
$8,000,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend USA:
$28,324, 26 October 2003, Limited ReleaseGross USA:
$336,456, 1 February 2004Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Dolby DigitalColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
Edit
Written by Jimmy Duncan
Published by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)
Performed by Bobby Helms
Courtesy of MCA Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Robert Downey Jr and Alfre Woodard starred together in Heart and Souls (1993). See more »Goofs
The position of Dark's gun hand when he chases the goons into the street after they try to kill him in the nightclub. See more »Crazy Credits
During the end credits we see Robert Downey Jr. perform the song "In My Dreams" See more »Soundtracks
My Special AngelWritten by Jimmy Duncan
Published by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)
Performed by Bobby Helms
Courtesy of MCA Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
See more »
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Ten years ago Ang Lee made a terrific little movie. It had depth and resonance. Eight years later, some hack remade the movie in English, changing the Chinese family to a Mexican one. Using almost precisely the same script, it turned into a horrible, horrible little film. Soulless.
Now turn to this. The original "detective" was one of the best film projects in history. I have it on my list of films every living person should see. It is the only thing I have ever seen from TeeVee that is worth watching. Its construction is ineffable and deep: three realities, each of which co- creates the others.
Now shift to the mind of Mel Gibson, the fellow behind this project. He is incapable of understanding or even seeing depth, surely in projects like this. What he has done is take a story about stories and storytelling, about parallel interwoven realities, about the nature of creation, about the origin of invention in sex and pain...
... and replaced it with something that looks the same and has the same events, but which has all the nuance and life bleached out of it. Now, we have a completely understandable narrative about a man who imagines and remembers things. All is clear, all is simple.
This is the same man who at this same time was doing the same thing to a similarly rich and deep and inscrutable story, the one about Jesus.
This is a travesty, a pure travesty. I recommend the original, but not this.
Just as a side matter, the threads that tied the realities together in the original were the women. The redness of their hair mattered. A lot. There's a little tinkering here with red, not-red, but it is done clumsily, without intent.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.