The Singing Detective (2003)

RDJs Acting – Robert said in the interview on the extras that he was scared about playing that kind of noir gangster character as they are always so cool. Well Robert it is very safe to say you pulled it off. Playing two characters in a film can be quite confusing for some actors but Robert Downey Jr takes to it like a duck to water. In the words of the singing detective "am I right or am I right?"Doctor Gibbon - Another notable character is that of Doctor Gibbon played by Mel Gibson. Doctor Gibbon helps Dan Dark deal with his bitterness that seems to have consumed him since he fell ill. Gibbon gets an insight into Mr Dark by reading his book, he then uses this to help Mr Dark on the road to his mental recovery.Dan Dark – He can seem spiteful and evil with his seemly random outbursts of violet verbal abuse directed to who ever is nearest to him at the time but, he is aware of this change in his personality and doesn't like it. There are moments when you see the person he used to be before reverting to the hatred spitting being he portrays so well. He is offered medication to help him deal with the pain of his condition. This medication is tranquillizers, the pain is at such a high level but he refuses. Lets just take a moment to admire the man for this. That takes courage and so much strength, to make it though each day with such a high level of pain when ever you move a single muscle.By the end of the film Dan Dark does reassemble himself into a different person personality wise. Perhaps he takes some of The Singing Detectives personality qualities and some of his original ones. I personally like to think he is a mixture of the two characters he portrays all the way thorough the film. As if to prove this point Dan Dark puts on a hat that we see The Singing Detective wear at the end as he walks out of the hospital he has called home for the past months.Nicola Dark – Some credit has to go to Dan Dark's wife Nicola for sticking by him through his illness and those violet verbal outbursts. Although she doesn't visit him at the start of his treatment, this is understandable because she doesn't want to get into a verbal match with him or just stand there while he shouts horrible statements at her. As the film progresses and his treatment, both physical and mental, is working his wife starts to visit him more and their relationship gets back on track. I am sure that having his wife present also helps with his recovery as he seems happy in her presence.The one thing that I was disappointed about upon watching the film was the fact that we don't get to hear Robert Downey Jrs lovely voice singing in the film at all (he does however sing the song "In My Dreams" over the credits) I do understand however what look the director (Keith Gordon) was going for. I think I would have made the same decision as he did as the overall look of those songs fitting into the film does work. If you think about it from Dan Dark's point of view he would use the songs in his hallucinations as he knows them, that's with the original singers singing them not himself. Still I can't help but feel disappointed at the missed opportunity to hear RDJ singing.

I was 24 when the BBC screened Dennis Potter's 6-part series The Singing Detective starring Michael Gambon as a hospitalised psoriasis sufferer. I watched it avidly, of course, because of the extensive outcry against it: notoriety was ever good for the box office. And I confess that I was too young and inexperienced to properly comprehend its strange and beguiling mix of real life, fantasy, fever dreams, flashback, pastiche mimed musical numbers, and the meaning and purpose of the way they were interwoven.17 years later, Hollywood films a Potter-scripted revision of the piece, substantially shorter, transplanted to the USA, and brought forward in time some years. I can't really compare them, because my recollections of the TV piece are sketchy.So I am commenting solely on this movie. It retains the mix of the original, but it is substantially easier to come to terms with what is being done: what is fever, what is imagination, what is recollection, and why each section is presented in that way. Robert Downey Jr as the protagonist (here renamed Dan Dark from the Philip Marlow of the original, each name having its own significance) as hugely impressive, but everyone shines.And the makeup....

First off, a feeling that I can't hold; (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind – 2002) sure surpasses this one. Because while having nearly the same idea, (Confessions..) connected the psychically ill man (who makes up an imaginary world and lives it, to forget about his main complex) with bigger case; which was the informational deception during the 1960s and the 1970s. True that (The Singing Detective) managed perfectly to show the case of its physically/psychically ill lead and his world, however without further dimensions or deeper issues unless the matter of the artist who showcases himself, and all of his life, through his art; whether consciously or unconsciously, with some kind of a tribute to the culture of the 1940s (movies, novels, songs..).It's interesting, with a personage for a movie that got nothing to do with the flicks of the major studies. So there had to be Mad Mel to handle the job and produce the whole thing. But the movie overall looks a bit poor. For instance the climactic battle wasn't dazzling as I though it would be. The using of the old songs wasn't done artistically well; some of them were annoying, having a bad irony with the modern scenes (like the moment of Downey. Jr getting stand up by the help of his doctor). And the movie's numbers were anything but distinct; I wanted the major studies to be vexed, but no such luck!(Robert Downey. Jr) was the movie's center stage. He got a lot inside of him. Nevertheless, something around him didn't let him release all what he could have had for such a character, and I'm not talking about the script. Mel as doctor Gibbon (!!) was a joke more than a character, I bet he did it just to prove how he hates to be Mr. Hollywood action hero only. There are some brilliant moments, especially when the script is exploring the lead's past as a manuscript of a noir movie. Sorrowfully (The Singing Detective) couldn't be as highly lovely or impressive as its premise. It got many great points, but not in one great movie. Still a good one though. But not for all.

Firstly, I have to admit, I haven't seen the original series "The Singing Detective", so I watched and am reviewing this film with fresh eyes.And I loved it. This film is about Dan Dark, and all the events are from his perspective or in his mind. This means that the story often changes focus and jumps about a bit. But this didn't bother me, probably because Robert Downey Jr gives such a brilliant and engaging performance, you are actually interested in the character's thoughts, as strange as they may be.The supporting cast, including some huge names, are fantastic as well. The film seems to have a bit of everything, comedy, romance, action, and interesting character developments and relationships. This film won't be for everyone, but I would definitely recommend it for it's unique style and a knock-out performance from Robert Downey Jr.