Devil In A Blue Dress (DVD)

Ezekiel (Easy) Rawlins is down on his luck and worried about mortgage payments when he is offered a job as a private detective, investigating the disappearance of a white woman called Daphne. As Rawlins' employer, DeWitt Albright, believes that Daphne is hiding somewhere in Los Angeles' black district, Rawlins starts his investigation by speaking to some friends of his. One of them, Coretta, knows Daphne, and gives Rawlins some useful information, ...
...day, Rawlins is the number one suspect. Can Rawlins avoid being charged for a murder he didn't commit and find out what happened to Daphne? Or is he involved in a bigger intrigue than he realised?

Made back in 1995, this film seems even older than that because it is set back in the 1940s and is based on hardboiled detective fiction a la Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and James M Cain. As a fan of this type of fiction, this film ... more

Ezekiel (Easy) Rawlins is down on his luck and worried about mortgage payments when he is offered a job as a private detective, investigating the disappearance of a white woman called Daphne. As Rawlins' employer, DeWitt Albright, believes that Daphne is hiding somewhere in Los Angeles' black district, Rawlins starts his investigation by speaking to some friends of his. One of them, Coretta, knows Daphne, and gives Rawlins some useful information, but when she is found bludgeoned to death the next day, Rawlins is the number one suspect. Can Rawlins avoid being charged for a murder he didn't commit and find out what happened to Daphne? Or is he involved in a bigger intrigue than he realised?

Made back in 1995, this film seems even older than that because it is set back in the 1940s and is based on hardboiled detective fiction a la Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and James M Cain. As a fan of this type of fiction, this film was always going to be a hit for me, and it has improved for the second time of watching. In true film noir fashion, Denzil Washington as Easy Rawlins narrates the story to give it a really authentic feel. The film is based on a book by Walter Mosley, written in 1990 - he has written a number of other novels featuring Easy Rawlins.

Denzil Washington plays Easy Rawlins and looks incredibly young. I loved him in the role. Playing a black man who has to ingratiate himself with the white moneyed classes in Los Angeles, he manages to do so without being too sycophantic. I am not sure exactly how realistic this was for the time, but Washington's performance is so convincing that it really didn't matter. I am disappointed that Washington didn't reprise the role in other films based on the Walter Mosley books - I guess that film noir is a bit of a niche market these days and Washington has too many other fish to fry.

Don Cheadle appears as Mouse Alexander and puts in a real outstanding performance. This man is such a good actor - his appearance never changes, yet he manages to seem completely different in whatever role he takes on. Here, he is a trigger happy lunatic who scares the proverbial out of everyone that gets in his way. Tom Sizemore is also good as the creepy DeWitt Albright. Jennifer Beals (Flashdance) plays Daphne. She certainly looks the part - the make-up and wardrobe department did an excellent job at making her fit the period - and manages to give a convincing enough performance bearing in mind that she doesn't have all that much screen-time.

As can be expected from a film noir, the story looks at the seedier side of society. What does make this one a bit different from the rest is that, as well as the social divide, it looks at the racial divide too. I have read a couple of comments on imdb and other sites about the film being reverse racist - that all the good guys are black and all the bad guys are white - personally, I don't think this is true at all - it is nowhere near as cut and dried as that. If you think that you might be offended, then obviously stay clear, but I really can't see that there is anything to be offended by. There is some violence against women and suggestions of paeodophilia which are more likely to shock.

I thought the pacing of the film was great. It starts off at a smart pace and more or less maintains that pace until the end - there was certainly never a dull moment. There were a few times when I got a bit confused, but usually Easy's narration took care of that, or I picked up the threads of the story later on. I didn't really know where the film was going, so the ending was a bit of a surprise, but it was nevertheless a good one. As well as the luscious forties style set, the music was perfectly in keeping with the era - lots of jazz music and blues.

The only negative that I can think of is that the title seems a bit strange - it certainly doesn't make much sense. I understand that the film ending is different from the book, so that may explain why, but in that case, why not change the title? Strange, but ultimately not that important.

I really liked this film. I must admit that it is exactly the sort of film I like, having been influenced by the hardboiled school of fiction since I was young; nevertheless, I think it is the sort of film that anyone who likes crime fiction will enjoy. The beautiful set and great performances are the icing on the cake - the cake already being a stonking great story. I am certainly tempted to read the novel on which it is based. Highly recommended.

The DVD is available from play.com for £4.99.

Classification: 15

Running time: 102 minutes 

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