The Singing Detective (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Singing Detective | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Keith Gordon |
| Written by | Dennis Potter |
| Starring | Robert Downey Jr. Robin Wright Penn Mel Gibson |
| Release date(s) | January 17, 2003 |
| Running time | 109 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Singing Detective is a 2003 film based on the BBC miniseries of the same name, a work by Dennis Potter. It stars Robert Downey Jr. and Mel Gibson.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Suffering from the skin disease psoriasis and a crippling arthritis, detective novelist Dan Dark is in such pain in a hospital that he begins to delve into fantasy, resulting in several story-lines told simultaneously:
- A film noir based on Dark's novel, The Singing Detective, in which a nightclub singer/private eye, hired by Mark Binney, takes on a strange case involving prostitutes and two mysterious men. Nothing is ever solved from this, only a vague plot. Notably, all of the people in the film noir are played by people who are real people in Dark's life; for example, Dark's nurse plays a singer.
- The present reality, in which Dark is tormented by incredible pain. Dark interacts with the various people around him, as the doctors and nurses attempt to help, but are dismissed by Dark's anger and bitterness towards everyone. The reality, however, also collapses into hallucinations, as the people randomly sing choreographed musical numbers, such as "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?"
- Dark's traumatic childhood in the past, which explains Dark's repulsion toward sexuality (Dark had watched his mother have sex with another man), and his anger.
[edit] Cast of characters
- Dan Dark -- Robert Downey, Jr.
- Dr. Gibbon -- Mel Gibson
- Mark Binney -- Jeremy Northam
- Nicola/Nina/Blonde -- Robin Wright Penn
- Chief of Staff -- Alfre Woodard
[edit] History
The screenplay by Potter had been circulating in Hollywood for many years, even before Dennis Potter's death, as Potter was enthusiastic about a film version. It was discovered, however, by Keith Gordon, who loved it and decided to direct it. The screenplay had also been imagined as a movie directed by horror veteran David Cronenberg and starring Al Pacino as the title character. [1]
[edit] Differences between the film and the miniseries
The film is mostly faithful to the series, with exceptions such as the setting (the United States instead of England), the musical numbers (1950s pop songs instead of 1940s jazz standards), the protagonist's name (changed from "Philip Marlow" to "Dan Dark"), the omission of some of the more detailed events of his childhood, and a more upbeat ending.
[edit] Reaction
Reviews were fairly bad; The score on Rotten Tomatoes was only 42%, or a "Rotten". [2] While some critics, such as Roger Ebert, genuinely liked the film, others, like Joe Baltake at the Sacramento Bee considered it an "interesting failure". [3] However, it could be said that the movie is overshadowed by the renown of the mini-series and could thus never be reviewed without bias toward comparing the movie to the original BBC series.
