Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)

It was a nice experience to watch a movie set in Harlem . This is one of the few serious movies set in the black community . Usually when a movie is set in black community it's either a comedy or drama . This one is an interesting thriller . Kinda a neo-noir movie (although it doesn't exactly fits into that description – for example Easy isn't a detective ).I like the mood of Harlem here . I like the fact that main hero isn't 100% good guy. I like the mystery – the twists are really surprising and it's hard to figure out who is bad and who is good. The only problem I had was with the unexplained past of Easy and Mouse . It seems important for the story , yet never really much screen time is given for that subject . In the end I've got only muddled idea what happened in the past. Thankfully , it doesn't destroy the movie .There is some strong acting here . Denzel Washington ("Glory" ) is as charismatic as always in the leading role of Easy. I was positively surprised by Jennifer Beals ("Flashdance") as Daphne Monet . I didn't expected such mature role from here. She shows true talent here and proves she is more than a pretty face. My favorite is Don Cheadle ("Hotel Ruanda") as Mouse – typical "shoot first , then ask questions" kind of guy . He brings a lot of fun into movie.It's a well made movie with mystery , jokes and drama in it . I give it 7/10.

Old timers say that casting is 97% of a motion picture. That's on display here - for good and bad. When the "Chimatown" moment occurs and the audience doesn't care is that the audience's fault... or the producers?devil in a blue dress. blue dress in a devil. Satan in a red dress and Lucifer in yellow. purple, orange, green and purple. kind of makes on want to blink. central avenue. avenue central. don Beadle. densely washing ton. devil in a blue dress. blue dress in a devil. Satan in a red dress and Lucifer in yellow. purple, orange, green and pink. kinda makes on want to blink. central avenue. avenue central. don Beadle. densely washing ton. devil in a blue dress. blue dress in a devil. Satan in a red dress and Lucifer in yellow. purple, orange, green and pink. kinda makes on want to blink. central avenue. avenue central. don Beadle. densely washing ton.

The most interesting element of the film is what happened subsequent to its release – nothing. All the elements of a good origin story for a movie franchise or a television adaptation (like "MASH") are there: a compelling main character ("Easy Rawlings") a setup for further adventures and the books of Walter Mosley for plot ideas. Also race, which is an essential element to the story of 1948 Los Angeles, continues to be a compelling social topic. Certainly some inherent challenges may have dogged efforts to bring the stories to the big or small screen. Period dramas, particularly those that necessitate car chases through long gone parts of Los Angeles, are expensive and difficult to stage and film. Also, the deus ex machina character of "Mouse" played by Don Cheadle presents some serious moral problems with his twitchiest of hair triggers. Also some of the attempts of dark humor focused mainly around Mouse in a serious noir are jarring and out of context with such dark material. As a standalone film, "Devil in a Blue Dress"-presumably not originally based on the Mitch Ryder song-garners a lot of unproven claims of being underrated from internet and mainstream commentators. Certainly, the movie entertains as Rawlings unravels a mystery involving murder, politics and Jennifer Beals in an early role against a backdrop of racial inequity in America's golden west. However, all of these elements are employed to far more compelling effect in a movie two years later called "L.A. Confidential." In short, fans of noir or Washington / Cheadle should find this as required reading while others should just go with "L.A. Confidential".

The acting is up to professional standards. Denzel Washington is in the lead as a jobless ex-GI in 1947 Los Angeles who is hired by a stranger to find a white girl named Daphne. He does a good job, as usual, without being in the least extravagant. The supporting players are all equally good, with Don Cheadle in the flashiest role as a friendly killer.Jennifer Beals as the mysterious and missing devil in the blue dress is competent and attractive. You have never seen such huge, glistening black eyes. Why hasn't she gotten better parts? Location shooting is done carefully too. Lots of nice shots of seedier locations as well as a couple of the kind of faux country estates we saw so often on "Columbo." Washington, of course, is African-American, and Beals is passable as a Creole from Louisiana. Relationships between the police and the black community are sketched out in what's probably realistic detail. The heavy handedness of the cops should come as no surprise to anyone who's seen "L.A. Confidential," although it may shock some who grew up on "Dragnet." The racial divide isn't imposed willy nilly on the script, either. This is an unashamed noir. There's no attempt to make racism the central issue. It may be difficult for some of us to accept the notion that a politician's marriage to a woman who is partly of black parentage would stultify his career but it was true enough.Still, the movie fails to engage. The narrative is murky, the action turgid, and there is a narration by Washington that serves as a familiar crutch for a weak story. It does nothing more than fill us in on the details of Washington's peregrinations, without adding anything more. It's Raymond Chandler without the fustian poetry or the scintillating cynicism. Washington's voice over never tells us that some babe had "hair the color of gold in old paintings." It only tells us things like, "I figured I'd better get out of there." I didn't really care much about anyone but Washington's out-of-work nice guy. I wanted him to make enough money to pay off his mortgage. That was about it. Well -- of course I didn't want to see Jennifer Beals tortured with that red hot poker either, although I wouldn't have minded if her captors had torn her clothes a little. Or, I guess the script could even have let her take a long, languorous bath.Chandler and Hammett never had especially gripping characters either but Chandler carried us along with his blunt, boozy charm, and Hammett bootlegged in a philosophy of life.Speaking of "carried," Washington has a line he speaks to Beals. "Change out of that house coat. Come on, I'll carry you home." Washington doesn't mean he's going to sweep her up in his arms and schlep her across town. He means he's going to escort her home in his vehicle. This is an old-fashioned, mostly Southern usage. It dates back to before the Civil War, as in "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny." I didn't mean to carry on so, but that sentence was one of the few things in the movie that roused my attention.