Review of Singing Detective, The

Introduction

This film is, for me, the delightful surprise of the year. I didn`t expect much, having seen parts of the original series on TV, and having read some mixed reviews when this hit the cinemas last year.

So what makes it such a standout experience? Screenplay certainly. This condensed version of the televised series was penned and edited by Potter himself, and he did a magnificent job. It`s a shame that he never lived to see the results.

The cast is quite excellent too. Robert Downey Jr. turns in an incredible performance as the principal, Dan Dark, a pulp-fiction author who is suffering from such extreme psoriasis that his face and body is covered with open wounds and weeping sores. Bed-ridden and hospitalised, and drugged out on painkillers, he is prone to a seething cynicism and hatred that manifests as fantasies and paranoiac delusions. He often drifts into a world of his own-making, a world filled with the stylish gangsters, detectives and dames of his own fiction. Narrative is often broken as characters both from his fantasised fiction and reality break into song and dance; usually doo-wop rock n` roll. He starts to believe that he`s investigating the murder of a prostitute in LA, but under the guidance of the hospital shrink, Dr. Gibbon, played by the wonderfully bald and aged Mel Gibson (thanks to some great make-up), he begins to unravel the facts from the fiction - only to discover to his horror that the two are heavily intertwined.

"There are things in that book Doc that are reaching out to grab me by the throat…"

As Dr. Gibbon suspects, the unravelling of the psychological knots in Dan Dark`s mind eventually begin to cure the psoriasis. `The poisons of the mind have erupted under the skin` was the original prognosis, and as Dark explores his psyche more deeply we share with him a painful past, where his Mother is forced to move herself and Dan to LA after being caught cheating on her husband in the small rural community that Dark had lived in. After moving to LA, she turns in desperation to prostitution and then eventually takes her own life or is murdered. Where there has been little to like until then, as Dark is reduced to sobbing tears I found myself suddenly sympathetic - genuinely caring where the plot went next.

The support cast is also first class. Carla Gugino is visually perfect as both the Mother and other fantasised and imagined roles; Katie Holmes is also well-cast in her role as a naïve, `nice` and attractive nurse, and Mel Gibson is both convincing and comical in turns as Dr. Gibbon, delivering all his lines in a whispered James Stewart twang.

Keith Gordon`s Direction is really great. The film uses all kinds of creative techniques to create tension and atmosphere, (see the over-exposed burn out effects in the closing scenes for example) and the stylised `detective` scenes look so good you could grab any frame and pin it to your wall.

The amazing thing is it all works wonderfully, and this is anything but standard Hollywood fayre, despite the trailer desperately trying to convince you that it might be.

Video

This is a good anamorphic widescreen transfer of a visually dynamic movie. There are very dark, stylised film noir sequences which stand up well here - as well as musical sequences with saturated colours and lights. The transfer seemed virtually flawless bar a little `digital buzzing` around Downey`s earlobe in one of his sessions with the shrink. But now I`m just nit picking…

Audio

Dolby Digital 5.1. This is a sparkling soundtrack - enhanced with great sound effects and period music. There`s also a wonderful warmth to the recorded voice in this picture, so that whispers and asides are still cutting through, meaning you`re not pumping the volume up and down throughout the movie.

Features

There`s an intriguing trailer which appears to misrepresent the movie completely - implying that it`s a rollicking detective musical with a psychological twist. It does little except illustrate the power of editing in altering meaning. Watch and wonder!

The cast and crew interviews are all quite enjoyable, though very brief and heavily edited - in most cases down to single sentence sound bites. Better this though than un-edited drones. All are of reasonable quality except Director Keith Gordon`s where the sound is just awful (sounds like they used the one on top of the camera) which is a real shame because his comments are amongst the most pertinent.

Conclusion

Wow! Having missed all but a few passing moments of the complex 8-hour marathon TV version of Dennis Potter`s `The Singing Detective`, the idea of a shortened movie version was intriguing, though my expectations weren`t high. Equally, reviews around the time of its cinema release were less than great. (This was bound to be unsatisfying to cinema audiences struggling to get a foothold on its genre hopping narrative.) But I`ve got to say that I thought it was absolutely magnificent - moving, witty, intelligent, emotional, dramatic, stylish and incredibly compelling, this is what courageous film-making is all about.

This movie certainly isn`t a mainstream chill-out - it takes effort. Every twist and turn in the plot, from fantasy, to reality and back into madness needs thought, analysis and consideration. The aftershock lasts for days. I found my mind wandering back to it again and again, and I`m certain to return to this movie before the month is out.

It`s a real credit to Mel Gibson that he put his own money into producing this movie to such a high standard, despite the fact that it clearly wasn`t going to please mass cinema audiences.

This is deep and complex film that will appeal to audiences who admire Potter`s other work, or who enjoy the dark netherworld of some of David Lynch`s more difficult works. It`s also a must for Robert Downey Jr. fans. To my mind, his performance here is of Oscar winning calibre and I suspect that this movie may well prove to be the ultimate `sleeper` - steadily gaining more recognition and appreciation as the word spreads. Thoroughly recommended (for those with a penchant for such things.)