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The Singing Detective (2003)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
14 November 2003 (UK)
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Tagline:
When it comes to murder, seduction and betrayal he wrote the book. Now he's living it!
Plot:
From his hospital bed, a writer suffering from a skin disease hallucinates musical numbers and paranoid plots. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
1 win
&
3 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(13 articles)
Mel Gibson Is Back: Trailer For Edge of Darkness Debuts
(From FilmJunk. 15 October 2009, 11:13 AM, PDT)
Mel Gibson’s Back to Kicking Ass in the ‘Edge of Darkness’ Trailer
(From Movie Cultists. 15 October 2009, 9:36 AM, PDT)
(From FilmJunk. 15 October 2009, 11:13 AM, PDT)
Mel Gibson’s Back to Kicking Ass in the ‘Edge of Darkness’ Trailer
(From Movie Cultists. 15 October 2009, 9:36 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
An Outsider's View
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Robert Downey Jr. | ... | Dan Dark |
 | Robin Wright Penn | ... | Nicola / Nina / Blonde |
 | Mel Gibson | ... | Dr. Gibbon |
 | Jeremy Northam | ... | Mark Binney |
 | Katie Holmes | ... | Nurse Mills |
 | Adrien Brody | ... | First Hood |
 | Jon Polito | ... | Second Hood |
 | Carla Gugino | ... | Betty Dark / Hooker |
 | Saul Rubinek | ... | Skin Specialist |
 | Alfre Woodard | ... | Chief of Staff |
 | Amy Aquino | ... | Nurse Nozhki |
 | David Dorfman | ... | Young Dan Dark |
| Eddie Jones | ... | Moonglow Bartender |
| Lily Knight | ... | Woman Physiotherapist |
 | Clyde Kusatsu | ... | Visiting Japanese Doctor |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for strong sexual content, language and some violence.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
109 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Germany:12 |
Portugal:M/16 |
Finland:K-15 |
Spain:18 |
Brazil:18 |
USA:R (No. 39265) |
New Zealand:R16 |
Argentina:16 |
Australia:MA |
Canada:14A |
Singapore:M18 (re-rating) |
Sweden:15 |
UK:15
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Keith Gordon and Robert Downey Jr. previously worked together in the 1986 movie Back to School (1986). At the time, Keith Gordon was acting not directing.
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Goofs:
Continuity: The position of Dark's gun hand when he chases the goons into the street after they try to kill him in the nightclub.
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Movie Connections:
Featured in "Anatomy of a Scene: The Singing Detective" (????)
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Soundtrack:
Woman Love
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FAQ
A NOTE ABOUT SPOILERSmore
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I have neither read the novel nor seen the original mini-series. A relative was enthralled with both, so seeing this listed on my cable guide I decided to give it a shot. I knew only the basic premise - that the film would be centered around a writer of pulp detective fiction who fantasizes about the lives of his characters as a way to escape his debilitating chronic skin disease. This was a good impression to enter this movie with, though far from complete. The 'singing detective' is the main character in Dan Dark's first novel, and an imaginary alter-ego existing in a seedy film-noir world of pulp fiction, in which Dark has encoded all of the traumas of his emotionally disturbing life. Meanwhile, Dark himself lies in a hospital bed incapacitated by some form of chronic leprosy and spreading a message of hate to everybody who dares to try to help him. The film focuses - though rather impressionistically - on Dan Dark's psychological journey during a prolonged hospital stay.
Without the background most viewers of this film might approach it with, I can only view it as an outsider, judging it only on its own merits. There are a few major problems which immediately come to mind. First - The Singing Detective is slated as a comedy. While I suppose some people might see it as a dark comedy, I am afraid that I found none of it funny whatsoever. Obnoxious, mean-spirited verbal violence does not amuse me. Second - though I do not have the insider perspective needed to support this idea (I haven't even read any IMDb reviews of this film), I suspect that the film leaves a lot of the development of its basic theme - of healing - out. Paradoxically, this problem seems to develop because of the nearly exclusive focus on Downey's deeply disturbed and paranoid character Dark, and his hospital antics. Yes, he's a very difficult patient - we get that right away - but is it necessary to drive it home scene after scene after scene? Downey's Dark is a blend of Woody Allen and Dustin Hoffman's Rainman, while his "Singing Detective" is a cold-fish hybrid of Humphrey Bogart, Bob Mitchum and all of the other noir detectives ever seen on the big screen. And he sings (this is a fact which is neither explained nor well-developed, but I am sure that the silly 1950s RnR tunes are the only venue for positive emotions the character allows himself). Downey's performances are, as usual, good, but they fail to sustain the entire film (which they are, unfortunately, asked to do). Mel Gibson, playing the hospital psychoanalyst, steals the show, despite his decidedly minor though important role. The rest - the pretty young nurse, the ambiguous wife, and the characters inhabiting Dark's fantasies and later his hallucinations are all well written and performed, but fail to compensate for the somewhat dull development of the central theme.
Good films based on unfamiliar literary works always make me want to read the original material (Master and Commander, The World According to Garp, and Bladerunner are some examples). When I see a good film based on a book I am familiar with (LOTR, Cider House Rules, Minority Report, The Shining, Solaris, for example) I approach it with a head full of expectations. With this film, I had only a palm full of expectations, and, though my review may sound negative, I was pleasantly surprised. The film dove unexpectedly deep, but in the end, came up a little empty-handed for me. Nor did I expect the film to be as breezily entertaining as it was. Balancing breezy entertainment and deep psychological drama (not to mention literary comedy and plenty of music) is a difficult task. Though The Singing Detective ultimately fails in this ambitious goal, it is still worth seeing, if nothing else, as an appetizer for the mini-series - which I will borrow from my relative post-haste.