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starring Robert Downey Jr., Robin Wright Penn and Mel Gibson! Part detective story, part rock-and-roll musical, part character study, the surreal "Singing Detective" doesn't so much blend the boundaries of genre as shatter them. Devilishly handsome in the fantasy sequences, Downey is fantastic as them bedridden Dark as well, his face twitching with rage, his hands curled tightly into claws. Downey's performance as the bitter, insufferable character is manic in its intensity as he barks out hatefully at anyone who tries to tend to him. Downey owes much to the quippy script by Dennis Potter, who created the 1986 British television series on which the film is based, that provides Downey with brilliantly funny exchanges. Mel Gibson, who also produced the film, here appears in a supporting role unlike any you've seen him in before. As the therapist who aids Dark in his psychological recovery, evoking his troubled childhood in yet another flashed-back-to storyline, he is unrecognizable -- bald, with Coke-bottle glasses that enlarge his eyes to the size of saucers and a high-pitched squeaky voice. It is a wholly unglamorous, magnanimous, revelatory performance. Cinematically, "The Singing Detective" is highly stylized, utilizing expressionist noir lighting for the sexually charged fantasy sequences and crafting a bright, sterile environment in the hospital. Director Keith Gordon and production designer Patricia Norris play gleefully with color: The hospital is white, white, white; the femme fatale wears a red dress, red lipstick and red heels and has red towels and tiles in the bathroom where she is killed; the desert is sepia-toned. "The Singing Detective" is a visual delight and an acting tour-de-force. (* * * 1/2 out of 4) If ADAPTATION were channeled through the love child of Humphrey Bogart and Elvis, the result would be THE SINGING DETECTIVE. This is film that smashes traditionally constructed genre boundaries as film noir, psychological drama, and musical meet in the tortured mind of Robert Downey Jr., a pulp fiction writer named Dan Dark. Meanwhile, Dr. Gibbon, (played with delight by an almost-unrecognizable Mel Gibson in a bald cap and spectacles) wonders if there may be something in Dark's writing that can bring both emotional and physical relief. Dennis Potter's words (this screenplay was written before his death) sizzle in this world where shadowy film noir and glowing musical blend together as well as fiction and reality or memory and present. Harsh scenes of violence and forced sex are contrasted with bubbly musical numbers to make them even more dark. Yet, even in its blackness, THE SINGING DETECTIVE should be one of the more colorful joys of the festival this year. Absolutely wonderful and m emorable moments... great entertainment. The ensemble cast is very appealing throughout. Robert Downey Jr. and Mel Gibson turn in roles unlike any they have ever done before and they shine here as well as they have in many films in the past. Downey Jr. spends a majority of the time hardly able to move a muscle but he is still as interesting as he was when he played Charlie Chaplin. The Singing Detective is a film that you have to let grow on you for a couple hours after seeing it. The more time that I have spent after viewing it, I find myself admiring it more and more. The Singing Detective is quite simply an audacious masterwork, a stylish, visually hypnotic film that will serve as a reminder that Robert Downey Jr. is one of the great talents of his generation. In the title role, Downey is the heart, soul and emotional breadth of this film. The film's energetic fantasy music numbers enhance narrative, theme and character and all gel beautifully. As his psychiatrist, Mel Gibson is magnificent, giving his best performance in over a decade. A remarkable, brave and intelligent achievement, The Singing Detective is unique, uncompromising and darkly comic. In director Keith Gordon's capable hands... pic should attract solid interest on the arthouse circuit for its multilayered story conceit, novelty as a quasi-musical and Robert Downey Jr.'s return to active thesping duty in a particularly fine turn.... (Potter's) genius for wrapping black humor, poignancy and fantasy in utterly original story concepts lends this "Detective" an immediate fascination. Downey's terrific performance works on its own terms, proving once again that this actor is at his very best when securely yoked to a character conception that leaves no room for show-off riffing. Support cast is excellent, with Gibson clearly having fun playing way against type. Gordon again demonstrates the intelligent craftsmanship that marked such ambitious prior efforts as "Mother Night," "A Midnight Clear" and "The Chocolate War." Gordon directs unblinkingly. The film is a brave spirit's defiant thumb in the eye of disease. Downey's performance is remarkable in the way it works with the physical condition. At times his voice is choked and harsh, because it hurts to move his lips, and yet at other times he gets laughs with perfectly timed looks and grins and grimaces. Then there are scenes where in his imagination he is magically restored. Downey gives a bravura performance that only an actor of his zeal could even begin to imagine. Dancing nicely between the raging writer and his tough guy alter ego, he never chooses easy sympathy over gritty intensity or false emotionality over stylized realism. His scenes with Gibson are especially crackling, as they start with pure hostility that finally leads to breakthrough. It is the female characters though that really keep the film going. Penn brings her exquisite naturalism to the film which complements Downey's expressionism. Katie Holmes, as the buoyant nurse who must deal directly with his disease, adds her bright charm. And Carla Guigino, as Darks troubled mother, trips along the razorıs edge with a great openness. Gordon and his crew have built astounding sets to capture the haunting sterility of hospital life and the moody expressionism of film noir. Great brilliance was invested in The Singing Detective. If there was a consensus must-see movie on Jan. 17, this is the one. The Black Box screening room at the Eccles Center was crammed to the gills, with latecomers happily claiming even the right-side seats partially obstructed by a structural support beam. Director Keith Gordon's passion for the project is contagious ' everyone walking out of the screening had something heartfelt to say about what they'd seen. Gibson is almost entirely unrecognizable. The transformation is remarkable, as is Mighty Mel's whacked-out performance. Downey pulls off a similar double-double, doing his best work in at least a decade while spending half the movie wearing the most appalling psoriasis makeup imaginable. There's a lot to like from a commercial standpoint ' the cast alone is a demographer's dream. Keith Gordon is a skilled filmmaker who has made compelling, accomplished adaptations of novels by Kurt Vonnegut and Scott Spencer. His new version is a haunting, brilliant... work whose most beautiful moments achieves verve and grace rare in the independent American cinema. Potter's story is entrancing... Beautifully shot by Gordon's regular collaborator Tom Richmond. This version has some spectacular moments of imagination. In the most entrancing Brechtian act, during a doctors' conference, the walls literally separate, opening up the proscenium and are fluidly transformed into a breathtaking version of "At the Hop." The musical numbers are grounded in the work of not only Fosse but his own inspiration, Federico Fellini. Where everyone will probably agree is in Robert Downey Jr.'s outstanding and courageous performance as the bedridden main character. Downey's work is superb, and his scenes with Gibson are the best acted, scripted and directed sequences in the movie. Superlative efforts by cinematographer Tom Richmond and production designer/costume designer Patricia Norris. Without a doubt, this new film from director Keith Gordon is my favorite film at the festival. Featuring the performance of Robert Downey Jr.'s career (yes, better then his uncanny turn as Charlie Chaplin), this strange, ultra hip, comedy/musical/drama/erotica/film noir is audacious and extremely innovative...very creative and courageous in its execution. Robert Downey Jr. acts with every inch of his body. This is a bold performance. I was really blown away. Mel Gibson is also sensational and almost unrecognizable as Darkıs balding doctor. These two actors have perfect chemistry and their scenes together are absolute bliss. Director Keith Gordon has created something special here. It brings to mind the works of David Lynch with itıs sudden jumps from reality to fantasy. Gordon is really great with this incredible ensemble. He has fashioned his best work with the surreal The Singing Detective. This is a movie I won't soon forget. |
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