Devil in a Blue Dress (film)
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| Devil in a Blue Dress | |
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 DVD Cover |
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| Directed by | Carl Franklin |
| Produced by | Executive Producer: Jonathan Demme Edward Saxon Producers: Jesse Beaton Gary Goetzman Associate Producers: Walter Mosley and others. |
| Written by | Screenplay: Carl Franklin Story: Walter Mosley |
| Starring | Denzel Washington Tom Sizemore Terry Kinney Jennifer Beals Don Cheadle |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Cinematography | Tak Fujimoto |
| Editing by | Carole Kravetz |
| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
| Release date(s) | September 29, 1995 (USA) |
| Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Devil in a Blue Dress is a 1995 neo-noir film directed by Carl Franklin. The cinematography was done by Tak Fujimoto.
The motion picture was based on the novel of the same name written by Walter Mosley, who was brought in to help produce the film. The movie was executive produced by Jonathan Demme.[1]
Featured in the drama are Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Terry Kinney, Jennifer Beals, Don Cheadle, and others.
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[edit] Plot
In this noir, that takes place in 1948 Los Angeles, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins (Denzel Washington) is a World War II veteran who has been unfairly laid off at the aircraft factory. He becomes a private eye to make ends meet and pay for his mortgage. Trouble is he's never done work as sleuth.
The films begins in noir fashion when Easy says, "A man once told me that you step out of your door in the morning, and you are already in trouble. The only question is are you on top of that trouble or not?"
His friend Joppy (Mel Winkler), who runs a bar, introduces Easy to a white man, DeWitt Albright (Tom Sizemore), who is looking for someone to help him find a missing white woman, Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), assumed to be hiding somewhere in the Black community. Albright offers Rawlings $100 dollars to take the job. Since the money represents a few house payments, Easy accepts.
Monet is known to spend time in the Black jazz clubs in South Central Los Angeles and she is the girlfriend of wealthy Todd Carter (Terry Kinney), who is the favorite in the Los Angeles mayoralty race.
Easy enlists the help of his sadistic and trigger-happy friend Mouse Alexander (Don Cheadle) from Houston, Texas. Easy's goal is to uncover why Monet is so important to so many people and, in the process, keep himself out of jail, which is not an easy task for a Black man living in post-World War II Los Angeles.
Soon, Easy becomes implicated in two murders and has been offered money by just about everyone involved. He becomes a player in the mayoral contest where the path to victory is paved with dirty tricks, guns, and violence.
Easy must rely on his instincts and his rookie detective skills, not only to solve the case, but, more importantly, to save his life.
[edit] Background
Carl Franklin wrote and directed the neo-noir because he liked Walter Mosley's novel. (Walter Mosley served as an associate producer in the film.) He thought the work was more than a detective story. Franklin says author Mosley was able to transform an everyday guy into a detective. In the editing process Franklin had to cut a steamy love scene between Beals and Washington because he believed the scene wasn't needed to convey the story.[2]
[edit] Filming locations
The film was shot mostly in Los Angeles, California. The pier shot where Easy Rawlins gets in trouble with local youths was filmed at the Malibu, California pier. Other locales in Los Angeles include the Griffith Park Observatory and the famed Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard.
[edit] Exhibition and box office
Tagline: In a world divided by black and white, Easy Rawlins is about to cross the line.
The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 16, 1995. In the United States it opened in wide release on September 29, 1995.
The first week's gross was $5,422,385 (1,432 screens) and the total receipts for the run were $16,004,418. The film was in wide release for 12 weeks (87 days). In its widest release the film was featured in 1,432 theatres across the country.[3]
[edit] Video/DVD
The film was released in video format on April 2, 1996. In laserdisc it was released in June 1996 and included the original theatrical trailer.
A DVD version was released on March 9, 1999 and includes an audio commentary by director Carl Franklin.
[edit] Critical reception
In a positive film review, critic James Berardinelli discusses the film from a sociological viewpoint, especially a 1990s one. He concludes, "The most interesting element of Devil in a Blue Dress is not the whodunit, but the 'whydunit.' Finding the guilty parties isn't as involving as learning their motivation, which is buried in society's perception of racial interaction. By uncovering the truth behind this mystery, Franklin illustrates that some attitudes have indeed changed for the better over the last forty years."[4]
The Chicago Sun-Times film critic, Roger Ebert, did not like the story much but he did like the look and tone of the film. He wrote, "I liked the movie without quite being caught up in it: I liked the period, tone and look more than the story, which I never really cared much about. The explanation, when it comes, tidies all the loose ends, but you're aware it's arbitrary - an elegant solution to a chess problem, rather than a necessary outcome of guilt and passion."[5]
Many critics applauded Don Cheadle's performance. Jerry Renshaw said, "Cheadle steals every scene where he appears as Mouse..." Although he was disappointed by Jennifer Beals' lackluster, vanilla performance.[6]
[edit] Cast and ratings
| Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Argentina: | 13 |
| Australia: | M |
| Canada (Ontario): | 14A |
| Denmark: | 16 |
| Finland: | K-16 |
| Germany: | 16 |
| Iceland: | 14 |
| Peru: | 14 |
| Portugal: | M/12 |
| Spain: | 18 |
| Sweden: | 15 |
| United Kingdom: | 15 |
| United States: | R |
- Denzel Washington as Easy Rawlins
- Tom Sizemore as DeWitt Albright
- Jennifer Beals as Daphne Monet
- Don Cheadle as Mouse Alexander
- Maury Chaykin as Matthew Terell
- Terry Kinney as Todd Carter
- Mel Winkler as Joppy
- Albert Hall as Degan Odell
- Lisa Nicole Carson as Coretta James
- Jernard Burks as Dupree Brouchard
- David Wolos-Fonteno as Junior Fornay
- John Roselius as Detective Mason, LAPD
- Beau Starr as Detective Jack Mille, LAPD
- Steven Randazzo as Benny Giacomo
- Scott Lincoln as Richard McGee
- L. Scott Caldwell as Hattie May Parsons
- Barry Shabaka Henley as Woodcutter
[edit] Soundtrack
The original score for the film was written and recorded by Elmer Bernstein. The original music soundtrack was released on September 12, 1995 by Sony. The CD included 14 tracks, three of them written by Bernstein (theme, etc). The others were Jazz tunes heard on the film background by jazz artists like T-Bone Walker, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Roy Milton, and others.[7]
[edit] Awards
Wins
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards: LAFCA Award; Best Supporting Actor, Don Cheadle; 1995.
- National Society of Film Critics Awards: NSFC Award; Best Cinematography, Tak Fujimoto; Best Supporting Actor, Don Cheadle; 1996.
Nominated
- San Sebastián International Film Festival: Golden Seashell Award, Carl Franklin; 1995.
- Edgar Allan Poe Award: Best Motion Picture, Carl Franklin; 1996.
- Image Awards: Image Award; Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture, Jennifer Beals; Outstanding Motion Picture; Outstanding Soundtrack Album; utstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, Don Cheadle; 1996.
- Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, Don Cheadle; 1996.
[edit] Quotes
- Mouse: "You said don't shoot him, right? Well I didn't. I choked him. If you didn't want me to kill him, why did you leave me alone with him?"
[edit] See also
- Devil in a Blue Dress (1990 novel).
[edit] References
- ^ Devil in a Blue Dress at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Tornquist, Cynthia. CNN, "Showbiz Tonight," September 28, 1995.
- ^ The Numbers box office data.
- ^ Berardinelli, James. Reel Views, 1995.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. The Chicago Sun-Times, September 29, 1995.
- ^ Renshaw, Jerry. The Austin Chronicle, October 12, 1998.
- ^ Amazon.com web site.
[edit] External links
- Los Angeles Times film review, by Kenneth Turan, 9/29/95.
