The Black Dahlia (2006)

	Directed by: Brian De Palma	COUNTRY Germany/USA GENRE Crime/Mystery/ Thriller/Noir NORWEGIAN TITLE The Black Dahlia RUNNING TIME 121 minutes
	Produced by: Rudy Cohen Moshe Diamant Art Linson
	Written by (based on the novel by James Ellroy): Josh Friedman

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Officer Bucky Bleichert	Josh Hartnett	½
Kay Lake	Scarlett Johansson
Sgt. Lee Blanchard	Aaron Eckhardt	½
Madeleine Linscott	Hilary Swank
Elizabeth Short	Mia Kirshner
Russ Millard	Mike Starr
Ramona Linscott	Fiona Shaw	½
Ellis Loew	Patrick Fischler
Emmet Linscott	John Kavanagh	½
Chief Green	Troy Evans

Review

Although he has returned to the noir genre and the early-to-mid 20th century time and again throughout his career, Brian De Palma has arguably been more proficient when he has set his sights on other things. De Palma is a gifted director, and he has versatility, but he also has had a few misfires dealing with unsubtle screenplays, like this one from Josh Friedman (whose lacklustre résumé includes only The War of the Worlds prior to this). The aspiration of The Black Dahlia is painfully obvious from the word go, and thanks to De Palma's visual sense it remains interesting and slightly seductive for an hour or so. The real problems arise only when the script tries to become clever and De Palma can no longer control it. Like in other stories by James Ellroy, there's a whiff of pretension, and like many other neo-noirs, the story becomes cluttered and insignificant. It doesn't help much that the performances are completely forgettable, with Josh Hartnett trying desperately to surpass his range, and Hilary Swank delivering another exhibit as to why her two Academy Awards will remain a mystery deeper than the one in The Black Dahlia for generations to come.