Review of The Singing Detective (2003) by Justin M — 30 Aug 2006

It's far from perfect, and seemed to end rather abruptly, but this bizarre film houses one of the best performances I've seen in quite a while. I've always sort of liked Robert Downey Jr., but he seemed like such an odd fellow, always gettin' himself into tight squeezes, and waking up in rehab. His work here puts him easily among my favourite working actors. It's a tough job carrying a film noir that, drops its detective story in favour of the crumbling life of its author, but as both the titular (yet nameless) pulp hero and his trash-novelist creator Dan Dark, Downey pulls it off.

You see, years ago Dark wrote a pulp noir novel called The Singing Detective, and now, years later, as his rare affliction makes the skin rot right from his bones, he's living it...or maybe just losing his mind. It's a bizarre concept that makes for a bizarra experience, and you have to be ready for it or you'll probably put off. But as a fan of pulp noir, and as someone who wanted to like the movie's star more than I already did, it was what the doctor ordered.

And speaking of doctors, Mel "The anti-semitic undertones of The Passion were pure coincidence!" Gibson shows up here in a supporting role, wearing bad glasses and a bald cap as Dark's shrink. It's a quirky bit part, but he plays it well. Quite well actually, one of the better performances of his long, over-rated career. Adrien Brody and Jon Polito are also rather comical in supporting roles as some two-bit hoods, But who cares about the supporting cast, it's Downey's movie and good God he's magnificent. The subtleties of his mood-swings, the timing of his words as Dan writes his book out-loud, punctuation and all. The sheer amount of information he can transmit from just his eyes alone, and he sits, caked in make-up to look as if he has psoriasis (the make-up actually does look real, I', just getting technical). It's a wonderful performance, antithesized perfectly by...Downey himself, as the suave, warbling Singing Detective.

The movie's a trip, and one that's absolutely worth taking.