Review of The Singing Detective (2003) by Stuart K — 22 Sep 2009

Based on Dennis Potter's 1986 BBC TV series, Potter wrote a screenplay based upon the series, which he managed to complete before his untimely death in 1994, nearly a decade on, that screenplay was picked up by Mel Gibson, who saw potential in the film.

It makes for interesting but disjointed viewing, but it had one good male lead. Set sometime in the mid-1980's, it has author Dan Dark (Robert Downey Jr.) being admitted to hospital with an extreme case of psoriasis which has left him bedridden and drifting in and out of musical fantasies in which he see's himself as his alter-ego of the same-name, a detective who sings and solves murder mysteries in 1950's Los Angeles.

However, back in reality, Dark is having visions of two hoods (Adrien Brody and Jon Polito) turning up to kill him, and his estranged wife Nicola (Robin Wright Penn) as a femme fatale, to get to the root of his problems, Dark is put before Dr.

Gibbon (Gibson) who discovers there are clues in Dark's books as to why he's feeling this way. It's a weird musical fantasy, with some good set pieces. It was this film that proved to the world that despite his troubles, Robert Downey Jr.

was still a brilliant actor. As a result, it put him on the glorious road to a great comeback. With appearances from Katie Holmes, Carla Gugino and Jeremy Northam, this one different kind of musical!!