So, just to let all the potential stalkers out there know that friday is my usual movie night where myself and a friend will see a double whammy of cinema extraveganza!!!! Everything that I have seen lately, bar Right at your door, has either impressed me immensely for its acting ability, like Snow Cake or just made me all out bellow with laughter, LIttle Miss SUnshine, or Snakes on a Plane, but the two movies chosen for fridays outing were The Black Dahlia and The Night LIstener.
We shall start with the Black Dahlia. NOw all I heard prior to this movies release was that it was being hailed as the new LA Confidential….I have to start by saying, if you have not seen LA Confidential then please do yourself a favour and go out now, rent or buy it, you will not be sorry! It has fantastic, Oscar winning performances from Hollywood’s finest and in my opinion it will not be upstaged in terms of movies about corruption in the LA police force for a very long time…please leave comments if you disagree!! I DARE YA!
Sorry, where was I? Yeah, so The Black Dahlia orginated as a novel, written, funnily enough by James Ellroy, author of LA Confidential, hence the comparisons. But unforunately that is where to comparisons end with such a gleaming example of a movie.
The Black Dahlia is shoddy, wobbily and very unsure of its direction. It has Hollywoods apparent brat pack killing some potentially likeable characters.
The general plot is that it is based on the unsolved murder of wannabe Hollywood actress Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner) who’s murder was brutal and immortalised. The two cops put on the case, the young and enthustiastic Bucky Bleichart (Josh Harnett) and the boxing king Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) become embroiled and obsessed with the case, leading them down some dark alleys uncovering corruption and conspiracies in their beloved police department.
On the whole this movie is a total crime (pardon the pun) but it is. It is totally miscast and is trying so hard to be something it clearly cannot reach.
Josh Hartnett is a terrible actor with an even worse voiceover. His voice is so deep and husky that I was holding my breath just to strain to hear what he was saying half the time. This caused me to not have a clue what was going on very early in the movie. I did turn to my mate throughout to ask her what the hell was going on, thinking it was just me and my blondenss, but thankfully she too had not a scooby!
To make matters worse, they gave Scarlett Johansson a part which is never good if you actually want someone who can act (miaow!!). She is probably the worst actress in Hollywood at this very moment. Don’t get me wrong, asthetically she fitted in very well to the 1940’s period, but I’m afraid that could not save her. By the third scene which involved her pouting and wearing clothes, I was unable to hold back the laughter. Thankfully two dudes along the row felt that same and everytime she appeared after that we all laughed in unison. Hurrah!
The other shocker was the visit to a lesbian speak easy, where the very frightening Kaydee Lang was dressed as a man and singing surrounded by scantily clad lesbos..Eek! Within this scene we meet Hilary Swanks character Madeleine Linscott. When she speaks, you are very unsure as to whether she is trying to be a Dubliner, a Londoner or a Boston-er? I have no clue who told her that trying an accent (which it turns out is supposed to be Scots…oh I hang my head in shame) was a good idea for such a talented actor. I could not keep myself composed from here on in and at one point had to hold my breath so as not to bellow out with laughter at the atrocity that is The Black Dahlia. Bar the horrendous direction, accents and severe lack of actual acting, the plot is fuzzy and at times feels like snakes and ladders…..then it ends in a glorious thud….and I walk out still having no actual idea what went on for the last two hours. Everybody else around me looked puzzled also. Do yourself a favour and give this a wide birth kids! 1 outta 5.
The other film of the night shall be short and sweet. It is The Night Listener. It is loosely based on the true life experience of Amistad Maupin (Tales of the City author) when he was breaking up with his partner. He was given a manuscript of a young boy of 14 who had been used and abused as a child by his mother, father and all their friends. The result of this was HIV and being put into care. Due to this manuscript Amistad struck up a close relationship with the boy and his foster mother, however, it wasn’t until his now ex-partner brings up the question of whether the boy and his foster mother are the same person and it is all a hoax. Amistad goes and investigates!
Robin Williams plays Gabriel Noone, (Amistads screen self) and shows the audience the very excellent darker side of his acting ability he wanted them to see. He plays the ‘gay man in the middle of a break up’ very well, looking comfortable and convincing in the role…thankfully not your stereotypical gay man in a movie. (A reprise of the Birdcage could be slotted in here). The atmosphere throughout the film is raw and dark. This is reflected in the weather and decor in the houses. Rory Culkin plays the young man Pete D Logand. And Toni Collette is his foster mother. Both are excellent in their roles, Toni as always outshines everyone else on the screen.
I have to warn you that not much actually happens in this movie, but for once, which it hasn’t been in a while, it is all about the atmosphere and the psychological effects it is having on the audience rather than putting things on the screen to shock and thrill. I was utterly uncomfortable and on the edge of my seat for the duration of the movie. I liked it a lot and I give it 3 and a half outta five…..
Thank you and goodnight!