THE BLACK DAHLIA (2006)
Updated: Dec 10, 2022
A Misleading and Overstuffed "True Story" Thriller
Grade: D
(**Spoiler Alert!!**)
When going to see a movie that claims to be based on or inspired by a "true story," it is best to take that statement with a grain of salt. The trueness of it can range from merely taking some liberties for the sake of entertainment (Argo, 2012) to being a gross exaggeration or lie (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, 1974). Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia falls somewhere in the middle, though it leans toward the latter category. It boldly proclaims on the poster that it is "inspired by the most notorious unsolved murder in California history," and audiences not familiar with that murder may go in thinking they are about to see a movie based on real people who did real things. Instead they are treated to a neo-noir crime saga that, while good-looking, is overstuffed with plot elements and climaxes within a story that, outside of the murder in question, is entirely fabricated.
The Black Dahlia takes place in Los Angeles in 1946-1947 and tells the story of police officer Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert (Josh Hartnett), who becomes partners with Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) after they are pitted against each other in an LAPD-sponsored boxing match to raise money for the department. Now detectives, they become friends and Bleichert forms a bond with Blanchard's girlfriend Kay Lake (Scarlett Johansson). One day, after a gunfight with several gangsters, the department responds to a woman found brutally murdered and lying in a field not far away. This was aspiring actress Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner), and Bleichert and Blanchard are immediately assigned to investigate her death. But personal desires and unfinished business from a previous case soon threaten their partnership.
Director De Palma and his crew saturate the movie with a sepia tone to harken back to the time period represented in the movie. This color scheme, along with the plot and voice-over narration, creates a sort of callback to film noir flicks like The Maltese Falcon (1941) or Murder, My Sweet (1944). And the script moves at a brisk pace, doing a decent job of setting up the characters in the first twenty minutes. But things start to feel a little off when the titular cadaver is discovered mere moments after a thrilling gunfight; it almost seems like an interruption.
In fact, despite the title, the legendary Black Dahlia murder is but one of several things going on in the film. There is also the love triangle developing between the three leads, Bleichart's desire to nab another notorious killer, Blanchard and Kay's connection with a soon-to-be-released pimp, and a new mystery surrounding Blanchard's death which occurs two thirds of the way into the movie.
Audiences who just want to see a story surrounding the murder will likely be surprised and a little confused by all these side plots. Especially since there is not one, but two climaxes in the film. The first comes when the apparently unsolved mystery of the Black Dahlia murder is inexplicably solved (more on that later) with several confessions heaped together in the span of five minutes. The second is where Bleichert finally learns who killed Blanchard, resulting in another series of sudden revelations. That is quite a lot of stuff for a movie where the main focus is supposedly the Black Dahlia.
One might think that, since it is based on a true story, they decided to include all events surrounding the case for authenticity. But this supposition would come to a crashing end when the final caption appears on-screen:
"While this story is inspired by the real murder of Elizabeth Short, the characters and specific incidents are fictionally based on James Ellroy's Novel 'The Black Dahlia.'"
That's right. The entire movie is false. There was no Detective Bleichert, no Blanchard, and no Kay Lake. This real-life murder was used as a clothesline by the filmmakers on which to hang a flashy, film noir-ish mystery and fill it with subplots. It is like the film itself is turning to audiences with this caption and yelling "PSYCH!!"
The Black Dahlia feels like a double deception to the audience. Not only does it purport to be based on a true story when it really isn't, but it "solves" a case that we are told from the start is unsolved. In this way it is a massive insult, both to audiences and to the real-life memory of Elizabeth Short. And no amount of good-looking sepia cinematography can change that.
Director: Brian De Palma
Screenplay: Josh Friedman (Based on a novel by James Ellroy)
Producers: Rudy Cohen, Mosche Diamant, Art Linson
Cast: Josh Hartnett (Det. Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert/Mr. Ice), Scarlett Johansson (Katherine "Kay" Lake), Aaron Eckhart (Det. Lee Blanchard/Mr. Fire), Hilary Swank (Madeleine Linscott), Mia Kirshner (Elizabeth Short/Black Dahlia), Mike Starr (Det. Russ Millard), Fiona Shaw (Ramona Linscott), Patrick Fischler (Deputy District Attorney Ellis Loew), John Kavanagh (Emmett Linscott)
Rated: R (for strong violence, some grisly images, sexual content and language)
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