Il diavolo in blu

This has a convoluted story like out of Chandler. There's the dreamy woman who has disappeared, the unlikely schmo hired to find her. She is white, a rich man's wife thought to have disappeared in the black side of town. They get him to investigate, a black guy who just wants to make mortgage so he can simply keep owning his house.

A lot of snooping around in clubs and seamy places around LA follows. People turning up dead in the night and he stands to get the rap. Hidden machinations that involve people in high places, a set of incriminating photos with a mayoral election in the balance. And all this as the noir world that turns against the protagonist - he's beaten, framed for murder, used as pawn - but, being a black man, it now acquires another layer of significance that conveys a more real plight than Marlowe.

And we have a curious eye of the camera, a world rife with texture and depth. This isn't the glossy recreation of an era that we find in LA Confidential, but more like Altman where we brush against spaces and the world surrounds from all sides. In this aspect it's worthy of The Long Goodbye. It has all these marvelous places, the blues club above the convenience store, the cabin up in the hills where a dead body turns up, his sunny neighborhood that is routinely invaded.

It's as good as if adapted from Chandler, plus about black experience in a world where boundaries are drawn starkly against you, plus a world rife for exploration as these boundaries are tranversed. It's good stuff, this one. They tried to set it up for future films where Denzel returns as the PI but I see that it didn't pan out. First time's the charm anyway.

Noir Meter: 3/4 / Neo-noir or post noir? Neo

Denzel Washington plays Easy Rawlins, a down-on-his-luck sometime machinist, sometime detective in late-1940's L.A. Seems someone wants him to find a mysterious white lady in a blue dress (Jennifer Beals)who's thought to have been seen in a blacks-only club. Enter Easy, who with his connections can get into the club and find the girl. But, of course, there's more to this plot than just that, or else it'd be a mighty short film.

The atmosphere is a major asset here; director Carl Franklin has done a magnificent job not only of recreating the Los Angeles of the late forties but also of showing the story from the black perspective, a rarity in film. All the sights and sounds are there, and if you concentrate real hard you can even detect the smells, too. Washington's aces, of course, as usual; makes you wonder if he'll do any more adaptations of Walter Mosley books starring Easy Rawlins. He's aided by a very good supporting cast, including Beals and Tom Sizemore (playing a heavy, surprise surprise!). Fans of Washington should watch this, but really anyone who likes film noir will approve.

I am glad I caught this film on TV; it was great entertainment and executed well.

I don't want to ramble on too much, so here goes. The acting is great - Washington giving another good performance. His narration was suitably dry too. Cheadle just chewed on the scenery. He was hardly in the film, but when he was, his impact as Mouse was powerful. Elsewhere, Beals was good as the titular devil in the blue dress. Sizemore was good as the sleaze ball who hires Washington - yet he seems to good at playing these types in all his films.

The aesthetic of the film was enticing. The smooth camera-work was mesmerising. The first shot that tracks through the busy streets and then cranes up through the window to Easy is so Hitchcock - or any director of film noir for that matter. The colours are beautiful too, from the orange skies in the day, to the hazy blues at night.

The story is gripping, if a tad predictable. If you like your Sam Spade and your Marlowes this film will be fine for you. The ending where Washington closes in on a house in the hills is very 'Big Sleep'.

Devil In A Blue Dress is unique in terms of perspective. The story is told from a black males view point and this makes the film very interesting to watch. No more all-white worlds of the 40's generation. This film shows both sides of the coin, and doesn't end up with a chip on both shoulders.

The film may be a tad predictable, but this should not deter you. This film is underrated and deserves your attention. Very entertaining.

Carl Franklin's adaptation of Walter Mosley's classic detective novel is a dark and funny tale of a detective with bad luck. Denzel Washington handles the material well. However, the star in the film is Don Cheadle as Mouse. This cold blooded killer steals several scenes away from Washington. The film also creates an accurate depiction of the racial climate in the late 40's. Issues of race and identity are displayed in the entire film. And Franklin does an incredible job of controlling the characters and narrative.

An incredible film.

To call this one of the most underrated films of the last ten years, is an understatement. This film is up there with ‘Chinatown' and ‘L.A Confidential. .

Denzel Washington is cool, and smart. Don Cheadle is stand out as the cold killer with a smile, mouse.

But the real praise must go to Carl Franklin, who proves that ‘One false move' was not just a fluke

As much as I liked the film 'L.A. Confidential' my problem with it was that a lot of black characters where being brutalised, without any chance to fight back. In this film they fight back. We have a black hero, someone who is as smart anyone else and in some cases smarter.

I hope that one day someone will film the rest of the Easy' Rawlins books.