Welcome to another edition of Adam's Reviews!! Queue in intro music**
Today's movie review is the crime mystery noir Devil In A Blue Dress (1996) starring my man Denzel Washington as Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, a war vet who finds himself out of work and soon accepts an offer to look for a woman, the missing mystery femme fatale Jennifer Beals. The movie runs through jazz clubs and highlights the racial prejudice in the 40s. Once the investigation start, Easy soon finds himself mixed up with a web of frame-ups, extortion and murder involving the most corrupt and powerful figures in L. A. Directed by Carl Franklin, this adaption of a regular detective crime series, falls flat where scenes felt slow in the beginning and when it started to pick up and was engaging, it felt rushed and not allowing the momentum of the film to casually flow by the work of the cast. Washington's performance is great like a technical jazz musician. However the movie greatest strength is the jagged Don Cheadle, as Easy's hair-trigger sidekick, Mouse. Cheadle's entry in the movie helps the momentum of the film (pretty much a scene stealer) and also helps out Washington's character until the end. The movie's weakest link is Beals, her performance feels plain and could have been acted better. The setting in L. A. in the 40s was nailed by Carl Franklin which was to dream the American Dream while dealing with the dark murky streets of L. A., however, the story itself is where the director fails to execute, a recognisable story which doesn't break new territory even if there were great performances. Overall 6.7/10.
Today's movie review is the crime mystery noir Devil In A Blue Dress (1996) starring my man Denzel Washington as Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, a war vet who finds himself out of work and soon accepts an offer to look for a woman, the missing mystery femme fatale Jennifer Beals. The movie runs through jazz clubs and highlights the racial prejudice in the 40s. Once the investigation start, Easy soon finds himself mixed up with a web of frame-ups, extortion and murder involving the most corrupt and powerful figures in L. A. Directed by Carl Franklin, this adaption of a regular detective crime series, falls flat where scenes felt slow in the beginning and when it started to pick up and was engaging, it felt rushed and not allowing the momentum of the film to casually flow by the work of the cast. Washington's performance is great like a technical jazz musician. However the movie greatest strength is the jagged Don Cheadle, as Easy's hair-trigger sidekick, Mouse. Cheadle's entry in the movie helps the momentum of the film (pretty much a scene stealer) and also helps out Washington's character until the end. The movie's weakest link is Beals, her performance feels plain and could have been acted better. The setting in L. A. in the 40s was nailed by Carl Franklin which was to dream the American Dream while dealing with the dark murky streets of L. A., however, the story itself is where the director fails to execute, a recognisable story which doesn't break new territory even if there were great performances. Overall 6.7/10.