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Movie: The Singing Detective
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Robin Wright Penn, Mel Gibson
Directed by Keith Gordon; Written by Dennis Potter (Paramount Classics)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes
Dan Dark is a detective story author with a problem. He's in the hospital with a terrible oozing-sore rash that covers his whole body. He can't move because of the pain. Alone, his mind keeps dropping out of this world into the bizarre film noir world of his detective character, also named Dan Dark, who moonlights as a singer in a 50s band.
Sound like fun? It is. The Singing Detective has a bit of a mystery to it but it's all internal to Dan himself, who is played with manic perfection by Robert Downey Jr. Downey of course has his demons in real life but he's one of my favorite actors. He could retire right now and have a place in film history solely for his work in Chaplin. (Few actors would have dared to play one of the great actors of all time like that, much less pull it off in such a believable way.) Here, he's alternately the stressed-out patient, the hard-as-nails detective, and a doo-wop singer.
Dark's wife, played with a stoic tolerance by Robin Wright Penn, still loves him but he's in so much pain he can't accept it. Maybe it's all his mother's fault. Enter the hospital's psychoanalyst, played by, my goodness is that Mel Gibson!? Mel's made up to be a balding, bespectacled old man here and he affects a near-George-Burns manner of speech. You hardly recognize him, but he melts so completely into the role, he damn near steals the movie. There are a few other unexpected star turns too. Adrien Brody shows up as a gangster who may or may not be a figment of Dark's imagination. Alfre Woodward is in a couple scenes as a skin specialist and the comely Katie Holmes is a hospital therapist.
Based on a British mini-series, Keith Gordon's The Singing Detective has many surreal moments where characters start lip synching to old fifties hits. Combined with its detective story, the movie bears a passing resemblance to the Coen Brothers' The Big Lebowski, another deliciously bent film noir take-off, but in the end it has a charm all its own. A special thanks goes to Mel Gibson for co-producing this little gem.
The Skinny:
Am I glad I saw the film? You were good babe, real good!
Would I go to see it again? We might meet again and we might not, see ya 'round kid!
© 2003 - Rusty Pipes