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Black Dahlia By: Andrew Moran 3 ½ Stars out of 5 Stars Starring (Alphabetical Order): Aaron Eckhart, Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Mia Kirshner, Mike Star & Hilary Swank Based on a true unsolved murder. In the 1940s, young and beautiful Elizabeth Short came to Hollywood, intending to become a famous actress. However, it would not be her career but her brutal murder in 1947 that would bring her fame, as "The Black Dahlia".
The investigation of her death became an obsession to millions and revealed a vast conspiracy throughout the police department.  Last week Hollywoodland was a clever ‘whodunnit’ but now this film is a gritty ‘whodunnit’. Black Dahlia was a superb film with great eye candy, meaning cinematography. This film had everything, just as Hollywoodland did, great cinematography, a great score, great acting and overall a good film-noir. As with Hollywoodland, Black Dahlia tried to get the L.A. Confidential gritty tough big Los Angeles picture and in my opinion it succeeded. But this comes from the same novelist and screenwriter James Ellroy. And with both films they had a great director behind the camera. L.A. Confidential had Curtis Hanson and now this film has Brian DePalma (Scarface & Snake Eyes). Black Dahlia was gritty and beautiful in a sense that Director of Photography, Vilmos Zsigmond (Witches of Eastwick & Melinda & Melinda), brought out the texture and again this was a European cinematographer, which always brings out the texture in the film. However I wish this film was shot in Black and White or at least transferred to Black and White because then this would bring out the true Double Indemnity feel to the film. The first hour of the film the screenplay was consistent but then through midway point the script became inconsistent. However this is what, I believe, James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential & Brown’s Requiem) tried to accomplish because at the end the pieces of the puzzle came together. Is it me or do Film-Noirs always trick you at the end. I mean in Black Dahlia I thought it was a certain character but then it tricked you. For example in Lady from Shanghai, I thought it was Grisby but it turned out to be Rita Hayworth’s character. 
Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down & Sin City), Aaron Eckhart (Any Given Sunday & Conversations with Women), Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry & Million Dollar Baby, Scarlett Johansson (Match Point & Scoop) and Mia Kirshner (Not Another Teen Movie & According to Spencer) all did a fantastic job in their roles. This might have been Josh Hartnett’s best role because he was just in the character, a modern day Fred MacMurray and Mike Starr (Dumb & Dumber & Ice Harvest) was the modern day Edward G. Robinson. Overall this film was very well done, maybe it was confusing to some but that’s because this film made you think and not a lot of films make you do that today. So if the numbers at the box office fails then it’s because that reason and that reason only.
Check out next week’s film review All the King’s Men only at the Toronto Times. 
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