The Black Dahlia

I'm a fan of James Ellroy's books, but haven't read The Black Dahlia, which was a novel based on a real murder case. A young woman was found murdered in Los Angeles, her body cut in half, her face mutilated. The case, to this day, remains unsolved.

The film based on this book, directed by Brian DePalma, is saturated with post-war L.A., which is to its benefit and detriment. The clothes, furnishings and cars are neat to look at, but the script plays like a Mad Magazine version of Raymond Chandler. Instead of being about the murder, the film is really about the relationship between two cops, played by Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart. They are both boxers, and given the nicknames Mr. Fire and Mr. Ice. Of course there is a woman between them, played by Scarlett Johansson. The murder doesn't take place until about half an hour into the film.

DePalma still has his touch with the camera. The discovery of the body is rendered quite well, with a pan over the top of a building, where two crows are sitting. As the camera rises, it reveals a field behind, where a woman runs away from something, screaming. Meanwhile, the two cops are on a totally unrelated stakeout, so the murder of this poor woman remains secondary, as it will throughout the film, as it exists only to explore the relationship of these two men and the women in their lives.

The actors seize their parts by the throat and don't let go, and this makes them look like they are playing dress-up and doing a community theater. Hillary Swank at least gets to spread her wings this time, playing a society dame instead of a hillbilly. Scarlett Johansson, who was so good in her breakout film, Ghost World, has increasingly disappointed me, as she certainly looks the part but is completely lost in this role.

The only performer faring well is Mia Kirshner, as the doomed Elizabeth Short. She is seen only in a screen test, where she is mocked and baited by an imperious, off-screen voice, and in a stag film. She ably captures what must have the pain and sorrow of a woman who has tried to make it in Hollywood, but ends up as fodder in the mill.

During the last fifteen minutes of the film, you may get whiplash as a series of twists are revealed. That is, if you're not guffawing at how ridiculous it is. Fiona Shaw, as Swank's mother, is called on for some particularly lurid line-readings. I guess all are to be commended for getting through it with straight faces.