Movies-TV

A great crime film

If you are looking for a great crime film...this is the movie for you. It doesn't have all the complicated twists and turns of other movies such as "The Usual Suspects" but it still serves a movie that keeps your attention the old fashioned way, reveal a piece of information but don't tell all of it. Denzel does a good job and Don Cheadle gives a great performance as Mouse. I hope the rest of Walter Mosley's books become films because if this is any indication of how the rest will be made.

Great Picture

This movie is fast, subtle and suspenseful. A lot of implications of duplicity and character history combine to make the film a real classic. Easy Rawlins is a proud and street wise black man with seat of the pants wisdom and instinct. Cockiness and desperation lead him to investigate a murder and solve a mystery to keep from becoming the fall guy. Buckle down and enjoy the ride. A rare "10" movie for me.

The most under rated film of the Decade

Carl Franklin's adaptation of Walter Mosley's classic detective novel is a dark and funny tale of a detective with bad luck. Denzel Washington handles the material well. However, the star in the film is Don Cheadle as Mouse. This cold blooded killer steals several scenes away from Washington. The film also creates an accurate depiction of the racial climate in the late 40's. Issues of race and identity are displayed in the entire film. And Franklin does an incredible job of controlling the characters and narrative.An incredible film.

The devil put me to sleep...

Despite all the critical praise, `Devil in a Blue Dress' never found an audience, or so says the Amazon review. Honesty, I agree with the audience and not the critics. The main problem I had with `Devil in a Blue Dress' is that it had me on the verge of sleep, and that's never a good thing.

Recently I've been watching quite a few film noirs that just don't seem to get it right. `Devil in a Blue Dress' is one of those films. It tries hard, that's for sure, but in the end it fails to capture anything more than a simple mood, but that mood isn't maintained long enough to hold my interest. That mood actually induced heavy eyes.


The film follows Ezekiel `Easy' Rawlins, an unemployed war-vet in 1948 L.A. With a mortgage and no job with which to pay it, Easy finds himself playing detective for a shady white man who wants to find a young white woman. This particular woman is not all that she seems and soon Easy finds himself in a world of trouble; or at least that's what I think happened. Like I said, I was in and out of consciousness throughout this entire episode. The film borders on meandering and I just couldn't help but doze off here and there.

The acting doesn't really help the matter. Tom Sizemore is uninteresting, but not nearly as uninteresting as Jennifer Beals. Denzel Washington is dreadfully mediocre here. His voice over I think is what did it for me, as far as putting me to sleep. He has a very smooth voice, which is good in general I guess, but when you couple that with poor story development then you have the recipe for disaster. His overall performance is poor as well. This style of film doesn't seem to suit him well. I like Denzel subdued, but subdued in more of a repressed way, where you can see the emotions billowing beneath his surface (ala `Man on Fire') as apposed to subdued in a solemn and lifeless way (ala `American Gangster'). There is no emotion in Washington here and that draws away from the film considerably. I felt like there was no reason for me to care, thus no reason for me to pay attention.

And then there was Don Cheadle. Seriously, where was the Academy here (sleeping I presume)? Cheadle's performance here is hilariously on point and deserves the utmost respect and accolades. As Mouse, Cheadle was able to single-handedly wake me up from my boredom induced stupor and make me pay attention to the last half of the film. In fact, Cheadle was the only reason I didn't turn the film off (at one point I told my wife to just wake me up when Cheadle came back on the screen). How he missed out on an Oscar nomination (the year was a good year and the category was tight) is understandable yet disappointing since his performance is honesty brilliant.

In the end I can't really recommend this film though, which is sad since Cheadle really pulls it out. The overall feeling this film leaves me though is not enough to cause me to recommend it in the least. Carl Franklin's direction is poor and the script he wrote (adapted from Walter Mosley's popular crime novels) does nothing to elevate his film. There just isn't enough of anything to hold this film together; no substance, no importance. There are many other crime noirs out there that actually hit the mark (`L.A. Confidential' for starters) so if you're in the mood for a noir look elsewhere.

The NOIR in Film Noir

Film Noir is French for "black film" is it not?
In the tradition of The Big Sleep, Chinatown, Maltese Falcon, The Long Goodbye......
The first and only (as far as I know) that features a uniquely "Black American" cast and story line.

BEST line in the movie "If you didn't want him dead, you shouldn't have left him with me."

Watch This Movie... Buy this movie. I have 2 copies. Don and Denzel both rock.

Devil in a Blue Dress

To anyone thinking of purchasing "Devil in a Blue Dress", It's a "must see". The first time I saw this picture was years ago, on a VHS tape. I couldn't wait to purchase it on a DVD version. And the price was affordable. If you haven't had a chance to view this movie, I recommend checking it out. It worth being in your DVD movie collection.

Don't forget the popcorn
D. Brooms

I can't wait to see Mosley's "Black Betty" be filmed.

I been a Walter Mosley fan for years and I can't wait to see his other Easy Rawlins books made into movies especially "Black Betty" my all time favorite Mosley book. Taral Hicks would be perfect for the title roll. As for Devil in a Blue Dress, it wasn't too bad at all, the acting was good, though I never pictured Mouse as a dark skinned character (maybe because his nickname "Mouse" makes one picture a short mousy-brown guy who is nervous, a little jumpy and quietly deadly looking such as actors Mark Curry or Cuba Gooding Jr., either of them would have been perfect to play "Mouse", though Mark Curry is better for the roll... just picture him in gray Zoot-Suit twirling a cheap snub-nosed revolver).Denzel was a fine choice for Easy Rawlins. He nailed it down good! Props D! The rest of them are all easier to fill as supporting rolls. But I'd have preferred Regina King instead of Lisa Nicole Carson any day. Regina King has the look and voice and would have been way better. Ask Mosley, I'd betcha he'll tell you I'm right. Picture her as Mouse's girl with Mark Curry as Mouse. Perfect match. You can't beat it with a stick.

A COLORIZED AND BLACK FILM NOIR

If this had been done in black and white and Robert Mitchum played the lead it would be a film classic. As it is, we have a damn fine detective movie with mystery and some sardonic wit. Washington is a sort black Phillip Marlowe type private eye. He is drawn into a missing person case and the plot follows the classic 40's mystery style. The mystery flows and although the characters are stereotypal it works fine. I highly recommend this for fans of the genre and those who just like Denzel won't be disappointed either.

Very good performances hung on not much substance.

Devil in a Blue Dress (Carl Franklin, 1995)

I'm still attempting to figure out what to say about this movie after two weeks. Usually, this is a sign that it simply didn't leave enough of an impression on me to say much of anything, but at least I liked it.

Easy Rawlins (Denzel Washington), an out-of-work electrician, is hired by an acquaintance of a friend to go looking for Daphne Monet (Flashdance's Jennifer Beals), the missing fiancee of a political candidate in an upcoming election. There's more to it than that, of course, but this is a movie where things tend to get complicated and spoiler-laden very quickly.

The movie is chock full of good performances, notably Washington and Don Cheadle as his friend and partner Mouse. The problem is that these performances exist in a vacuum; the movie never really comes together, with wooden dialogue and a paint-by-numbers plot that sacrifices a good deal of the subtlety of the novel. It's a decent genre mystery flick, but it's not what it could have been. ** ½

Film Noir at its best.

I haven't enough praise for this movie. Carl Franklin's nigh perfect Devil in a Blue Dress is a showcase for quality filmmaking. The casting, the script, the direction, the art direction are all top notch. Unlike so many other flashy films of the past decade, Devil goes for the things that matter: a richly textured world, an intelligent story and powerhouse acting. Washington simply embodies all the power and majesty of Easy Rawlins. And Don Cheadle should own an Oscar at this moment for his mindblowingly good Mouse. Beyond the beautifully recreated LA of the 1940's, your ears are treated to a peerless soundtrack (I own it on CD!) and you eyes get to feast on the superb cinematography of Tak Fujimoto ("Silence of the Lambs" and "Sixth Sense"). Every facet of this movie shines. Franklin, with help from Walter Mosely's excellent novel, gave us a movie that represents just how incredible the filmgoing experience can be.

Seriously Miscast

I loved the book, so I rushed to see this movie when it came out. Walter Mosely is listed as an "associate producer" but I wonder who ultimately cast this movie? Denzel is perfect as Easy, Tom Sizemore is perfect as Albright but Don Cheadle was miscast as Mouse. In the book, he's described as light-skinned and handsome ( a ladies' man ) but small in stature. I pictured a guy like Giancarlo Esposito in the role. Also, Cheadle could not do the deep southern accent Mouse speaks with in the book.

But the most serious miscast was Jennifer Beals as Daphne a/k/a "The Devil in the Blue Dress", she was way too old for the part! In the book she was a beautiful teenager, 16 or 17 ( I can't remember exactly ) that could pass for white. Someone maybe like Lisa Bonet or even a young white actress should have played her. With this crucial error, the plot failed to make sense.

A near miss

"The Devil in a Blue Dress" is all about Washington's character, a 1948 veteran who is recently unemployed and takes earnest money for a simple errand from a man of dubious character only to find himself as the suspect in a murder case with tentacles reaching into the underworld and politics. A norish linear narrative, the flick does everything right but with less than exceptional results. Entertaining but not engrossing, interesting but not compelling, enjoyable but not provocative, "Devil..." is makes for little more than an okay small screen watch. (C+)

Devil in a Blue Dress - Great African American Film Noir

This film directed by Carl Franklin from his own screenplay, based on the novel by Walter Mosley is great. It is a wonderful example of film noir comng from the late 1940's section of Los Angeles that is not seen in films, and from an African American perspective. I highly recommend owning this DVD with commentary from Franklin.

overlooked gem (minor spoiler included)

I really enjoyed this screen adaption of the prolific Walter Moseley's first novel. Generally, it was nice to see a piece on this historic period focusing on blacks on the West Coast, as opposed to the usual settings of the South and NYC. Also, the racial issues were handled with enough restraint that I could watch it (i am generally too angered and upset by period pieces with racial issues to enjoy them). Denzel gives a great performance in a much better vehicle than the one for which he finally won a Best Actor Oscar. Jennifer Beals is also convincing, thought my knowledge of her real life biracial heritage sort of ruined her character's surprise revelation in the movie for me. Lisa Nicole Carson gives an effective albeit brief performance, but the show is definitely stolen by Don Cheadle as Mouse. ("if you didnt want him killed why'd you leave him with me?"). I had the pleasure of seeing him off Broadway in Top Dog Underdog, and i think that this film was his breakout role. Overall very enjoyable.

Heavy heat in the night.

Murder, politics, sex and scandal; and it is all about a girl in a blue dress. An out of work WWII vet(Denzel Washington)is trapped in a web of lies, backstabbing and flying lead when he agrees to look for a politician's girlfriend(Jennifer Beals). Some real good movie music by the likes of Memphis Slim, Duke Ellington, Roy Brown and Jimmy Witherspoon. Very apt support from:Tom Sizemore, Don Cheadle and Lisa Nicole Carson. One steamy sex scene scorches and redeems.

Devil Made Easy

Los Angeles, 1948. Ezekiel 'Easy' Rawlins is a mortgage-holding war veteran, newly down-at-heel thanks to aircraft industry lay-offs. In keeping with the pattern established by John Huston's Maltese Falcon (1941), he accepts a dodgy job for easy cash, taking him into the crevices where his mysterious patron Albright (Tom Sizemore) cannot go. Unlike the lantern-jawed heroes of forties low-life detective work, Rawlins is black. This is the source of the ambiguity that underwrites Carl Franklin's screen adaptation of Walter Mosley's Devil in a Blue Dress. Mosley and Franklin take us into the familiar territory of violent film noir, akin to Franklin's earlier One False Move (1993). What made the novel different from other pulp fictions was its evocation of race in postwar America. Searching out a missing woman may be the staple of countless private eye thrillers, but this time it is refracted through the prism of postwar racial tensions. Like the best fifties flicks, paranoia is ever present. In Devil in a Blue Dress, however, the uncertainties are not about reds under the bed, but about crossing the colour line. Denzel Washington, fresh from his Crimson Tide performance, is superb in the lead role, giving expression to the burning anxiety that lies beneath Easy's cool exterior. That anxiety is provoked in particular by Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beale), the eponymous femme fatale engulfed in the sordid underbelly of white Los Angeles. Unlike the classical hardboiled dick, such as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, Rawlins has to think twice before pursuing her. If Hammett 'took murder out of the venetian vase and dropped it into the alley', then Mosley has populated the alley with redneck cops prepared to ensure that blacks know their place. But while the film version of Devil in a Blue Dress is clearly infused with racial tensions, Franklin seems to be unwilling to pursue the issue too hard. He seems somewhat torn between creating a straightforward period piece and pursuing the racial themes. The ambiguity of Rawlin's position is softened when, for example, in contrast to the novel, Franklin takes the stream out of Easy's relationship with Daphne. In Franklin's adaptation race works mainly as an unspoken assumption, so much so that police billy clubs are probably the only aspect of life in 1948 that is not lovingly created. Opening as it did during the OJ Simpson trial, Devil in a Blue Dress created a major stir in the USA. Entertainment Weekly described it as a sociologist's tour of urban Negro culture. But that is its real problem: its view of race from a safe distance, rather than from the inside as in Mosley's novel. Outside of flashes of fire from Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle (who plays Easy's wild associate Mouse), it is altogether too sedate, too fifties - in the Happy Days sense of that decade - to capture the ambiguity either of noir or of Mosley's novel. Walter Mosley achieved national fame when Bill Clinton declared him to be his favourite novelist. Franklin's version of Devil in a Blue Dress is Mosley as Bill Clinton might read him. The central dilemma of race remains largely unexplored and Mosley's compelling vision is lost in the nostalgia of a period piece.

Denzil's first film noir

This film should've been a hit since it was based on a well received novel by Walter Moseby and starred Denzil Washington as "Easy" Rawlins. Unfortunately it didn't get the notices it should have received due to the fact as Denzil stated that blacks do not like to see themselves as victims. Too bad because this film noir had an intricate plot involving a mysterious woman (Jennifer Beals) who's involved in a murder plot which puts Washington's character in peril and possible imprisonment since one of females he was involved in is found murdered. Another plus was Carl Franklin's astute direction plus you also had Don Cheadle in a career breaking performance as Rawlin's psychopathic buddy "Mouse". The audience I saw this with, laughed and were engaged with this flick. If you like a good film noir/detective story and are a Washington fan, do check this out!!

Easy Does It!

It is the end of WWII. Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins(Denzel Washington) returns from the war to find segregation,discrimination, and a decent job hard to come by. He has used the little bit of money he had to buy a house and car, but he must find a way to keep up the payments. A job does come his way, it sounds shady, but it's seems to be easy cash, so he takes it. The job...To find a missing woman named Daphne Monet(Jennifer Beals)...seems easy enough.

Finding this mysterious woman, Easy, gets into trouble at every turn. Dead bodies start turning up all around him. The cops harass him,he uncovers political foul play, and a dark secret about the woman. Working with him is his old friend "Mouse" (Don Cheadle), who's answer to everything is shoot first and ask questions later. The "reward" for finding this woman and what she knows is growing as the answers start leading up the ladder of society. Is Easy's interest now for the money or the girl?

If you like the old style of film noir in movies like "Laura" or the newer modern film noir like "L.A. Confidential" you'll love "Devil in a Blue Dress". It's gripping, edge of your seat stuff.Director Carl Franklin and director of photography Tak Fujimoto give us a great look at this steamy side of Los Angeles in the 1940's.The musical score by Elmer Bernstein is wonderfully atmospheric, and the old rhythm and blues or"Shout and Jump" music by such greats
as T-Bone Walker and Duke Ellington are a great addition to 1940's feel. The cast also features Tom Sizemore and Maury Chaykin.

The DVD(Columbia Tri-Star) is a nice transfer. It is in widescreen, with a full screen version on the other side. Picture and colors are outstanding. The sound was good, dialouge a little low at times but still good. Features include Director's commentary during the film if you want, Don Cheadle's screen test and trailers. There are subtitles for those needing them.

All that is needed now is another EASY RAWLINS story..how bout it Denzel?..........Enjoy........Laurie

Easy on the eyes

Devil in a Blue Dress starring Denzel Washington has much to recommend it: the post war Los Angeles period setting, an exciting plot, great music and Denzel Washington in a sleeveless T. Denzel plays Ezekiel or Easy Rawlins, who has moved to Los Angeles from Texas seeking opportunity. Easy plans to move up in the world, but unfortunately he has hit a snag. He has recently lost his job. His friend Joddy offers him an out by introducing him to a man who wants to find a woman. Of course at this point things get interesting and aren't as easy as Easy would like.

Denzel proves in his role of Easy Rawlins yet again why he is one of the hottest commodities in Hollywood. Denzel is electric. His Easy Rawlins is a man of action, morals, thought and conflict. Did I say he is wearing a sleeveless T?

The setting for Devil in a Blue Dress is filled with smoke filled Jazz Clubs, well groomed bungalows, old black sedans sliding along the dark streets. For anyone who loves old private eye films this is a must. This is a whodunit which keeps the viewers attention.

A Different Kind Of Film Noir

This is the kind of film that can stay with you for awhile after you watch it: a haunting kind of film that isn't always pleasant or easy to understand but you remember it. It also helps to have a fondness for the 1940 film noir movies and a fondness for stylishly-filmed DVDs.

It doesn't help that it appears racist in nature with people of one color all being the bad guys while people with another color all the good guys. If the colors were reversed, twould there have been an outcry over screenwriter-director Carl Franklin apparent bias?

Regardless, this is still a fascinating movie that just oozes with the 1940s atmosphere. Great narration in there, a la film noir, great automobiles and great sets. It puts you right into the late 40s in Los Angeles, a little bit like the film Chinatown.

Denzel Washington does a nice job with the narration and the lead role, the character of "Easy Rawlins," off the book by Walter Moseley (which I read and recommend). Tom Sizemore and Don Cheadle play very intense characters in supporting roles, particularly Cheadle as the trigger-happy "Mouse." Jennifer Beals is alluring as the mysterious "Daphne Monet."

The film is a bit confusing in parts and was especially so for me since the book was not exactly the same and had a totally different ending. Nonetheless, the film has always fascinated me and drawn me back for multiple viewings. It's good storytelling and it would be fun to see more of Moseley's books translated to the big screen.