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The Singing Detective

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The Singing Detective (2003)

October. 24,2003
|
5.4
|
R
| Comedy Crime Mystery Music
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From his hospital bed, a writer suffering from a skin disease hallucinates musical numbers and paranoid plots.

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Reviews

Dorathen
2003/10/24

Better Late Then Never

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Pacionsbo
2003/10/25

Absolutely Fantastic

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Glucedee
2003/10/26

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

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Taha Avalos
2003/10/27

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

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SnoopyStyle
2003/10/28

Detective story writer Dan Dark (Robert Downey Jr.) is hospitalized suffering full body lesions. The pain is causing hallucinations of hard-boiled detective characters. He is treated by Dr. Gibbon (Mel Gibson) and nurse Mills (Katie Holmes). He is demanding to have his novel 'The Singing Detective' from his wife (Robin Wright). He is hounded by two detectives in his dreams as well a vision of his mother (Carla Gugino) who took him from his father to live in rundown L.A.It's an intriguing idea. It may even work if the surreal dreamscape makes any sense at all. The dream work becomes a lot of nothing with bits of really interesting childhood recollections with his mother. After awhile, the hallucinations get repetitive and it ultimately goes nowhere.

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rooprect
2003/10/29

It was a dark and sultry evening when Rooprect, gumshoe film critic wannabe, popped in this DVD expecting to see something as pulpy and vapid as the 50s comic book artwork on the cover. "The Shhinging Detectivesh" said Rooprect out of the right corner of his mouth while out of the left corner was a limp cherry Twizzler hanging like the soggy laundry that he forgot to put in the dryer the night before.And that's where my story writing skills end.But never fear, the 2003 movie "The Singing Detective" has more than enough going for it to keep your attention for 109 minutes, if not days afterwards. This is one of those deliciously deceptive films that promises a kiss on the cheek but delivers a suckerpunch to the gums. It can broadly be called a musical, a comedy, a crime drama, a psychological thriller, a mind trip, and just about anything else under the sun. But the trick is not to expect any 1 of those. Just be ready for anything.The story begins in a kind of satirical film noir setting which we quickly learn is one of the nightmarish delusions that plague our hero (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) as he lies in a hospital bed, suffering, disfigured and terminally ticked off at the world. Downey's chilling yet charismatic performance is what sucks us in. His ability to portray the world's worst cynic while eliciting our sympathies (not to mention getting our toes tapping to such hits as "How Much is that Doggie in the Window") is something I haven't seen since... heck, since ever.The story follows him as he explores his own mind, his past, his present, and of course his cryptic fantasies which play out like Humphrey Bogart with an NC-17 rating. Yes, sexuality is very prevalent in this film, but it's not gratuitous. It can make for awkward viewing (do NOT watch this movie with your parents, and for Pete's sake not with kids!), but there is a clear point to his rude, crude, abusive visions. Some of it is so over-the-top that you'll die laughing, such as the hospital dance number where the doctors & nurses are all but raping their bedridden patients (not too subtle on the symbolism there!). In fact, all of it is very tongue in cheek. Just remember that we are exploring the mind of a seriously damaged human being.Mel Gibson plays a role I've never seen him play, something so different and so well done that I didn't recognize him for several minutes. He's the nerdy little bald psychotherapist whose job is to crack Downey's mind. And all the while you feel like Downey is ready to crack Gibson's skull if he could only make a fist. The dynamic between these two is absolutely magical.Robin Wright Penn completes the trio of acting magnificence. She plays the mysterious wife whom we're not sure whether she's a good guy or a bad guy. As she appears in various nightmares that paint her in a less-than-complimentary light (prostitute, liar, swindler), we start to understand the message of the film: that paranoia can taint an entire world. And yet, is it truly paranoia if our suspicions are correct? Watch the film and find out.Adrien Brody and Joe Polito (the most repulsive and lovable gangster you've ever seen) round out the troupe as two killers hot on the trail of... well, nobody knows. You wonder if they do. Like all the other characters in the film, they are alternately chilling and charming. They disturbed me to my core and made me laugh like I was a kid at a birthday party.Like I said, be ready for anything because this is a very bipolar film. Nothing is as it seems. But it delivers one of the most powerful experiences I can remember. I highly recommend this film to people who have a dark, somewhat cynical view of the world. I'm not saying it will confirm your misanthropy, nor am I saying that it'll suddenly fill your life with rainbows and unicorns. But it'll definitely make you see the world in a different way. I saw this movie 48 hours ago and I can't stop thinking about it. If you end up seeing this movie, make sure to give it your full attention, absorb every detail, every line (EXCELLENT script, by the way, with chilling monologues that rival anything Salieri ever said in "Amadeus").I'm not sure how this film slipped through the cracks and received such a low rating on IMDb (5.7), but it's always great to stumble on an obscure gem like this. Don't pass it by, shweetheart.

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Daniel Fuller
2003/10/30

The film plays out like a Technicolour fever dream as reality meets fiction meets fantasy through the eyes of Robert Downey Jr's Dan Dark, a long-suffering author with an eye-watering painful looking skin condition.Downey is on top form, and the gradual erosion of the boundaries between fantasy and reality is extremely effective as characters from the page walk into Dark's real world and vice versa.His illness represents the decay apparent in his life since his difficult childhood, and all the clever metaphors therein are exploited beyond the obvious.Downey is, as always, fantastic- the scenes with Mel Gibson a delight, and Robin Wright Penn exudes a vulnerable warmth in her role as his long suffering wife. Adrien Brody's presence is superfluous; still when he is on screen he's pretty darn good.It's a film that's not as clever as it thinks it is, though- all that smart symbolism is explored beyond the plot of the story until it becomes an exercise in showing you how to be clever on film, though failing because it's so obvious.Great performances, and all in all a wonderfully bold- yet fragile staging- of an a descent into illness and redemption, but flawed in it's brash attempt to overwhelm the audience with clever twists and turns and techniques which ultimately give the impression it's trying far too hard to be subversive.

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RagDolly
2003/10/31

Firstly, I have to admit, I haven't seen the original series "The Singing Detective", so I watched and am reviewing this film with fresh eyes.And I loved it. This film is about Dan Dark, and all the events are from his perspective or in his mind. This means that the story often changes focus and jumps about a bit. But this didn't bother me, probably because Robert Downey Jr gives such a brilliant and engaging performance, you are actually interested in the character's thoughts, as strange as they may be.The supporting cast, including some huge names, are fantastic as well. The film seems to have a bit of everything, comedy, romance, action, and interesting character developments and relationships. This film won't be for everyone, but I would definitely recommend it for it's unique style and a knock-out performance from Robert Downey Jr.

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