The Black Dahlia

Reviewed by:
Pete Hammond

Just one week after Hollywoodland is released there's yet another period piece centered around a famous unsolved L.A. mystery: the 1947 death of young aspiring actress Elizabeth Short, who was brutally murdered in a gruesome, notorious fashion. Based on the novel by James Ellroy, this Brian de Palma (The Untouchables, Scarface) take is a fictional version that simply surmises what might have actually occurred. Two former boxers nicknamed 'Fire' and 'Ice' turned police detectives (Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart) inadvertently discover Short's mutilated body during an unrelated shootout and begin an investigation that takes them in all sorts of tawdry directions, from the world of porn on one extreme to the upper echelon of L.A. society on the other. When Hartnett's character meets Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank), a rich man's daughter with an unmistakable resemblance to the victim, their between-the-sheets affair leads him to an encounter with her odd family and a key to ultimately unlocking the puzzle. De Palma, whose films are hit and miss but always watchable, seems a little too constrained by the constantly unraveling plotlines here, but does manage to pull off a couple of memorable scenes that must be seen to be believed, both involving Swank's boozing mother (a way over the top Fiona Shaw). On the plus side The Black Dahlia nicely captures 40's L.A. despite the fact that most of the flick was shot in Bulgaria(!) Unfortunately, Hartnett is the weak link in a role that requires the tough guy persona of a Russell Crowe to really pull it off. The potential was certainly there for a grade 'A' noirish masterpiece, but the film too often settles for standard B-movie contrivance, proving to disappointed ticket buyers the truth of this odd little movie's best line: "Hollywood will fuck you when no one else will."

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