Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)

One of the best book to movie adaptations ever

Look, I'm not one of those rabid dog book fans that trash a movie based on a book just because it didnt follow the book 100%. I actaully read Devil In A Blue Dress years before I saw the motion picture. Now even though the movie changed certain things around, its still pretty good in its own way. The movie is about 85% faithful to the book and even with that in mind it didnt destroy the fond memories of the novel.

The story: Easy Rawlins(Denzel Washington) is a world war veteran that is fired from his job at a defense plant. Things in his life get worse when he meets a mysterious fellow by the name of Dewitt Albright(Tom Sizemore) pays him money to find a woman by the name of Daphne Monet(Jennifer Beals).

Denzel is perfect as Easy Rawlins and I doubt I could have picked a better person to play Ezekiel Rawlins. Tom Sizemore does a pretty good job as well as Dewitt Albright. He is a creep without being overbearing. Don Cheadle does a pretty good job as Mouse, Easy's crazy but loyal friend. Like I said the movie is 85% loyal to the book so there are a few things the movie changed around(like the way Albright really died) and a few things left out(like the numerous love scenes with Easy and Daphne). Despite that Devil In A Blue Dress is still a treat not just for the fans of Walter Mosley's famous book but to the fans of black cinema period. Two thumbs up. December 9, 2008

"Are you on top of that trouble of not?"

Denzel Washington stars as "Easy" Rawlins, a down-on-his-luck factory worker in 1948 Los Angeles. Easy has just lost his job and desperately wants to keep his house. When he's approached by DeWitt Albright (Tom Sizemore) to do some private eye work, Easy hesitantly agrees for the right price. All he needs to do is track down a white woman named Daphne, who's engaged to an LA mayorial candidate. Apparently, Daphne (Jennifer Beals) has been known to date black men, so Albright thinks Easy might have more luck tracking her down. Easy soon regrets taking the job, though, as other people are looking for Daphne as well.

"Devil in a Blue Dress" didn't do very well at the box office, grossing just $16 million dollars, and is not one of Denzel's more well-known movies. Unfortunately, the plot is a bit muddled at times and just not as interesting as one would hope. In addition, the seedier elements of the story are somewhat glossed over, making it rather tepid for a neo-noir. Although it's not a great movie, it deserves to be better known. In particular, the film's neo-noir tone makes it a notch above the typical mystery, and it's one of the few noirs to feature black actors. The film was also beautifully produced, with a very realistic recreation of 1940s LA. The Elmer Bernstein score and jazz music add great flavor as well. Finally, the acting is very good - Denzel gives a sly performance, and Don Cheadle scores some laughs as Easy's violent friend. All in all, "Devil in a Blue Dress" is a solid movie that will probably be enjoyed by Denzel fans.
November 29, 2008

better than average book to movie

Don Cheadle had the best lines. But the casting of Jennifer Beals and her makeup was a huge mistake, ruined the plot. I had read the book & as soon as she appeared I thought WTF. Imagine her as a blonde and it makes more sense. November 8, 2008

Devil in a Blue Dress

To anyone thinking of purchasing "Devil in a Blue Dress", It's a "must see". The first time I saw this picture was years ago, on a VHS tape. I couldn't wait to purchase it on a DVD version. And the price was affordable. If you haven't had a chance to view this movie, I recommend checking it out. It worth being in your DVD movie collection.

Don't forget the popcorn
D. Brooms October 30, 2008

The devil put me to sleep...

Despite all the critical praise, `Devil in a Blue Dress' never found an audience, or so says the Amazon review. Honesty, I agree with the audience and not the critics. The main problem I had with `Devil in a Blue Dress' is that it had me on the verge of sleep, and that's never a good thing.

Recently I've been watching quite a few film noirs that just don't seem to get it right. `Devil in a Blue Dress' is one of those films. It tries hard, that's for sure, but in the end it fails to capture anything more than a simple mood, but that mood isn't maintained long enough to hold my interest. That mood actually induced heavy eyes.

The film follows Ezekiel `Easy' Rawlins, an unemployed war-vet in 1948 L.A. With a mortgage and no job with which to pay it, Easy finds himself playing detective for a shady white man who wants to find a young white woman. This particular woman is not all that she seems and soon Easy finds himself in a world of trouble; or at least that's what I think happened. Like I said, I was in and out of consciousness throughout this entire episode. The film borders on meandering and I just couldn't help but doze off here and there.

The acting doesn't really help the matter. Tom Sizemore is uninteresting, but not nearly as uninteresting as Jennifer Beals. Denzel Washington is dreadfully mediocre here. His voice over I think is what did it for me, as far as putting me to sleep. He has a very smooth voice, which is good in general I guess, but when you couple that with poor story development then you have the recipe for disaster. His overall performance is poor as well. This style of film doesn't seem to suit him well. I like Denzel subdued, but subdued in more of a repressed way, where you can see the emotions billowing beneath his surface (ala `Man on Fire') as apposed to subdued in a solemn and lifeless way (ala `American Gangster'). There is no emotion in Washington here and that draws away from the film considerably. I felt like there was no reason for me to care, thus no reason for me to pay attention.

And then there was Don Cheadle. Seriously, where was the Academy here (sleeping I presume)? Cheadle's performance here is hilariously on point and deserves the utmost respect and accolades. As Mouse, Cheadle was able to single-handedly wake me up from my boredom induced stupor and make me pay attention to the last half of the film. In fact, Cheadle was the only reason I didn't turn the film off (at one point I told my wife to just wake me up when Cheadle came back on the screen). How he missed out on an Oscar nomination (the year was a good year and the category was tight) is understandable yet disappointing since his performance is honesty brilliant.

In the end I can't really recommend this film though, which is sad since Cheadle really pulls it out. The overall feeling this film leaves me though is not enough to cause me to recommend it in the least. Carl Franklin's direction is poor and the script he wrote (adapted from Walter Mosley's popular crime novels) does nothing to elevate his film. There just isn't enough of anything to hold this film together; no substance, no importance. There are many other crime noirs out there that actually hit the mark (`L.A. Confidential' for starters) so if you're in the mood for a noir look elsewhere. August 21, 2008

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