Review of Black Dahlia (2006) by Bastet 0 — 27 Nov 2010

A color film with a "film noir" feeling about it. We start out with Josh Hartnet sitting in a dressing room waiting for a boxing match, it cuts back to how he got here, and then after about a half hour gets to the actual match. Usually films will use this plot device to tie up a movie from beginning to end. This one, obviously, does not. It shows how he becomes quick friends with Lee Blanchard, a cop that seems to have it all- great paycheck, great girlfriend... and then the Dahlia shows up. I do have to commend the makeup crew on this, though CGI was very obvious when used instead.

The story quickly becomes very tedious with an unnecessarily long run time. There are so many random cuts around that it's difficult to follow through and for me, there was no feeling whatsoever for any of the characters. Scarlett Johansson provides her typical unemotional acting- it is glaringly obvious she was chosen for the classic 40s glam look that compliments her so well. Her emotional scenes were almost comical to me- even her banter in her first scene was so off rhythm it was painful and left me wondering "was this the best cut they had of this dialogue?!".

We are given some insight into the character of Elizabeth Short Aka Betty, AKA The Black Dahlia via 'screen tests'. Mia Kirschner does an excellent job of showing a girl who is clearly mentally unbalanced, emotionally tortured, and desperate to break into the film industry. She almost presents a child like innocence that is chewed up and spit out by the Hollywood machine on a daily basis. Whether the real Short was like this or not, who knows- but the character portrayal fits the storyline.

Hillary Swank as a 'femme fatal' of sorts was difficult to swallow at first but mostly because I kept thinking "that's hillary swank looking like a man in a shit ton of make up." I don't hate Hillary, she's just not glam to me. But she really pulls of an effed up heiress in this film- completely selfish and heartless. It is clear the character comes from a messed up a family and the result of this upbringing. The fact the film keeps shoving down our throats that Swank and Kirschner could be mistaken for each other is impossible to swallow- one only need look at production stills of each to know what I'm talking about.

Without describing every single character in detail, as the movie drones on you see Blanchard getting lost in the Dahlia case (due to his sister being 15 when she died- the Dahlia was 22 in real life btw) but at some points you're almost like "Wait, what's going on with Blanchard?" or "Oh, he's still floating around somewhere?" or even "God, that guy turned into an inexplicable dick over night." Hartnett is essentially playing his same character from Sin City- off camera monologues and all.

And lastly, we come to the sexualization of the murder. It is brought up in every aspect- as Bucky digs deeper and deeper he uncovers Smart being caught up in lesbian look alike rings, making pornos for money, and we even get to see some 26 year old woman dressed in a little girls sailor suit OUT IN PUBLIC that the film tries to tell us is 15. Uh huh, yeah, sure. Really- this movie was totally trying to push actresses as being less than twice their age- that's not fudging a line, that's outright ignoring it. It's like the movie couldn't stand as being an interesting crime drama without deciding to fictionalize Smart as a lesbian- sometimes facts are more interesting than fiction, guys.

Poor acting, poor plot direction, poor storyline really makes the ending not so much a "OH wow!!" but a "FINALLY!" as it is not only completely left field with almost no hint of the murderer being who it was (though there was psychological significance to it) but it just seemed like even the director was like "Hell, let's end this. X did it. The end.".