Monday, September 18, 2006

Panthergirl's Pan of the Week: The Black Dahlia



I don't get out to the movies much. Yesterday, my son was going out with a friend and his mom, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to see a grown-up film. I *really* wanted to see "Little Miss Sunshine", but I couldn't find anyone to go with me and it's so much more fun to see a funny movie with somoene else. So, I opted for The Black Dahlia.

Three words SHOULD have given me a clue. Brian. De. Palma. What a jumbled mess...when it wasn't completely incoherent, it was laughably absurd (and don't tell me it was intentional... I know camp. This was just BAD.) There was one moment in a scene that was homage to "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" where you hear a cuckoo clock in the background. I'm sure THAT was supposed to be humorous...but it wasn't enough to save this slop-fest of a movie. (Hilary Swank did seem to enjoy her romp as a femme-fatale, and that was fun to watch.)

The real-life crime is still unsolved, yet the film ties it up in a neat (ok, bloody) little bow at the end. Don't bother waiting for it to come out on DVD. Even the close-captioning won't help make heads or entrails out of this one.

No comments:

Post a Comment