A slick but empty period noir. De Palma can do better than this.
Comment
09/29/06
The Black Dahlia (2006)
34
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:179
Fresh:61
Rotten:118
Average Rating:4.9/10
Consensus: Though this ambitious noir crime-drama captures the atmosphere of its era, it suffers from subpar performances, a convoluted story, and the inevitable comparisons to other, more successful films of its genre.
Theatrical Release:15-09-2006
Synopsis: Based on the novel by James Ellroy, Brian De Palma's THE BLACK DAHLIA stars Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart as a pair of LAPD detectives assigned to the most notorious murder in Hollywood history.... [More]
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Hilary Swank, Aaron Eckhart
Director: Brian De Palma
Reviews for The Black Dahlia
... Hillary Swank gives a Lauren Bacall edge to her femme fatale ...
09/28/06
the convoluted story never really takes hold, and eventually it all dissolves into low camp and unintentional self-parody.
09/27/06
Forget it, Jake. It's not Chinatown.
09/27/06
The Black Dahlia uses many cinematic contrivances that do not help tell the story of who killed Elizabeth Short.
09/26/06
The Black Dahlia is not a black mark on the talent track record of anyone involved. Yet with such a potentially powerful story, it should have been something very special.
09/26/06
The pairing of Ellroy and De Palma proves a marriage made in hardboiled heaven.
09/23/06
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09/23/06
The picture is a kind of fattened goose that’s been stuffed with goose-liver pâté. It’s overrich and fundamentally unsatisfying.
09/23/06
Dead on arrival.
09/23/06
The Black Dahlia, sadly, is a whale of a groaner.
09/23/06
This is far from one of the director's better efforts and should be avoided by all those who are not sworn De Palma boosters.
09/23/06
Reaffirms De Palma's status as American cinema's cruelest social satirist...
09/22/06
This time Mr. De Palma has traveled beyond camp into sloppy sadism, with the audience cast in the role of victim.
09/22/06
The movie jumps overboard during an insane third act that threatens to undercut the accomplished filmmaking that precedes it. It's such an engaging ride beforehand, though, that the freaky climax is forgivable.
09/22/06
doesn't skimp when it comes to dishing up plot twists and complications -- if you take a bathroom break at the wrong time, you will never catch up on who is embroiled in what...
09/22/06
De Palma should have called this sleazy murder mystery The Really Big Sleep.
09/21/06
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09/21/06
This movie fails to hook early on, so you resist being taken where it wants to go, no matter how intriguing that destination may be.
09/21/06
Nails the tale's particulars but not its soul.
09/20/06
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