It is easy to see why many consider 'The Black Dahlia' a failure. The plot, fine for a crime novel, is impossibly convoluted for a movie. The acting in the main parts leaves a great deal to be desired and by far the more interesting of the male leads dies long before the end. But there are enough incidental pleasures to make it worth seeing. The crystalline black and white screen-test sequences are gorgeous to look at, and even greater interest lies in the performances of the film's actresses, whose fascination is in inverse proportion to the amount of time they spend on the screen: Scarlett Johansson is hopeless, and while Hilary Swank at least gives it her best shot trying to evoke the femmes fatales of the film noir heyday, she too is miscast. Much better is Mia Kirshner who lends a mesmeric power to the B&W sequences mentioned earlier, and while Fiona Shaw makes a bold bid to steal the movie with an outrageously over-the top performance, she is outdone by Rose McGowan who upstages the lot of them in her tiny part as an actress playing Cleopatra!
Review of The Black Dahlia
