Brian De Palma's 'The Black Dahlia'

Snickers really satisfy; "The Black Dahlia" does not!

If all that mattered in movie-making was that the end result was pretty to look at, I would be giving Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia a rave review. There's no denying the film's visual virtues: the cinematography, the set design, the costumes, the hairstyles and the makeup. The screenplay, however, is another matter. For about 90 minutes, it moves at a fast pace, the movie is flowing but with just a few minor rapids, then as the end approaches, it goes into a freefall over a waterfall and lands with a crash. The ending is so complicated that it requires not just one but two explanation scenes and, even after those, we're still not sure how everything fits together. While it's true
detectives Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) and Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) are the department's stars because of their record in bringing fugitives to justice. Hartnett seems ideal for this line of work. He has a slow-to-wake innocence that suits a character whose detective skills always appear to be two or three scenes behind ours. The character's smarts are slightly below average, and Hartnett doesn't have the seriousness to raise him up. He's almost too innocent. At the time of the infamous "Black Dahlia" murder, where the dismembered body of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner) is discovered in an open field, Bucky and Lee are working another case, tracking a child rapist. However, Lee becomes obsessed with the Short killing and aggressively pursues a seven-day transfer for himself and Bucky to the taskforce. Bucky agrees unwillingly, however, believing it's more important to get their original prey off the streets. Investigating Short's past leads Bucky to Madeline Linscott (Hilary Swank), with whom he begins a relationship. Meanwhile, sparks are flying between Bucky and Lee's girlfriend, Kay (Scarlett Johansson), but neither act on them out of respect for
Everyone from Scarlett Johansson to Hilary Swank to Josh Hartnett looks great in late 1940s costume, but the performances are rough. There are times when Hartnett and Johansson appear stiff, and Swank goes over-the-top on at least one occasion. She is outdone in the overacting category only by Fiona Shaw (playing her mother), who delivers enough ham to feed a crowd. The most consistent performer is Aaron Eckhart. Mia Kirshner is also effective but because of the nature of her role, she appears only in film clips of Short's Hollywood auditions (the first time we "meet" the character, she's a