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."

---

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!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Musical | Mystery

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content, language and some violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

---

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.

---

Quotes

Second Hood: I'm sick of standing around here like a coupla dummies. Are we feds or aren't we?
First Hood: No. We're just a coupla hoods.
Second Hood: Shaddap!

---

Crazy Credits

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

---

Connections

References Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

---

Soundtracks

It's Only Make Believe
Written by Conway Twitty and Jack Nance
Published by Sony / ATV Songs LLC (BMI)
Performed by Conway Twitty
Courtesy of Universal Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Another Feather In The Cap For Mel Gibson... I Finally Forgive Him For Lethal Weapon 4!

THE SINGING DETECTIVE (3 outta 5 stars) Excellent main performance by Robert Downey Jr. as a writer of detective stories who is stricken with a horrible skin disease which makes his every movement extremely painful. He is basically trapped in his hospital bed and at the mercy of the doctors, nurses and attendants. With nothing else to do he begins to hallucinate... mixing up plots of his novels with personal details from his past. Also people he talks to tend to start lip-syncing old 50s tunes for no particular reason. Mel Gibson has a great supporting role as a psychiatrist who thinks that there may be a psychological component to Downey's suffering and seeks to get to the bottom of it. Odd, little film has a lot of interesting scenes and characters... unfortunately there are a number of scenes that kind of fall flat, too. Not to worry, the movie is still well worth seeing... if for no other reason than to see a balding Mel. Gibson produced the movie... which is probably the only reason they were able to afford to get him in a small, independent movie like this.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 November 2003 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

The Singing Detective

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$28,324, 26 October 2003

Gross USA:

$337,174

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$435,625

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