The Black Dahlia

The Black Dahlia starring Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank is a typical film noir...based in 1940s "classic" Hollywood. It is full of starlets and handsome leading men, and abundant in smoky-voiced voice-overs. All those essential elements (and a brilliant director (Brian De Palma)), however, didn't add up to a great film.

Honestly, I don't think a lot of these actors had the chops to pull off a noir. Hartnett's done a few ("Sin City," "Luck Number Slevin") and he was the most tolerable, but the majority of the cast appeared to be merely playing dress-up, smoking, looking longingly into each others eyes and filming overly physical love scenes. Noirs are supposed to smolder with pent-up passion, aggression and violence, but I just didn't buy it with this crew, Johansson in particular. Even Swank, a two-time Oscar-winner, faltered in maintaining the signature noir tone. Ultimately, the film's suspension of disbelief was never established.

The plot was imperfect to begin with. Hartnett, the film's protagonist, had his hands full with subplots including: Elizabeth Short's (the "Dahlia") murder, Eckhart's haunted past, the strange love triangle between Hartnett, Eckhart & Johansson, and Swank's twisted, rich family. After about fifty minutes I hoped they'd wrap something up-...anything...-to find relief from the poorly-acted melodrama. When they finally did start piecing the puzzle together, there were about thirty different resolutions and I'm not sure what it all added up to. It didn't add up to an enjoyable movie.

Because I own it I'm going to give it another chance and hope it grows on me, but if you're looking for a more enjoyable film noir experience, try "L.A. Confidential." I hear that's good.