Bob An I feel relieved now that after taking a quick look at other reviews I see that I am not alone in the fact that I did not understand ANYTHING what was going on in the film! So... First of all, I did not understand whether the killed girl ( but there were many more killed - if I understood) was very famous in Hollywood or just some obscure wannabe star. I think I heard the both facts in the film !? And why and how is she important to the story of the film? Her connection to the main characters is very vague - to say the least! And plus, where were those black & white footage of her found? I can go on with the questions...but there are no answers. Maybe the film was conceived to be half told... but as this is not quite a mystery film ( to me) I do not thing that lingering questions add to the appeal of the film.Josh and Scarlett are both really beautiful / handsome in the film. They even kinda look as if they were really from the 50's ! Hilary is good too. Actually I think that those names kept me watching the film as the film itself is rather non-eventual and on the verge of being boring ...Five from me as I liked the brownish color of the film and for the costumes. Soundtrack could have been better ( if there is one at all).

FlashCallahan 1940s Los Angeles. Two cops, Bucky Bleichert and his partner, Lee Blanchard, investigate the death of a young woman found brutally murdered. Bucky soon realises that his current girlfriend had ties to the deceased, and soon after that, he begins uncovering corruption and conspiracy within the police department........Every director has a bad film in their repertoire, that one mistake that ever so slightly tarnishes an illustrious career. Spielberg has 1941, Scorcese has Gangs Of New York, and Michael Bay has his CV.This is De Palmas misstep. But what a misstep it is. Usually with his movies, you have the wonderful cinematography that adds that depth that is synonymous with his movies, and it's here in all its glory, but it's overused, as if he's trying to cover the fact that the whole film is an incoherent mess.So we have two hours and one minute of Josh Hartnett walking around, looking confused, and being either mocked, threatened, punched, made to look a fool, and discovering so etching just as it's too late. And he looks as confused as the audience. The story of The Black Dahlia is a fascinating insight to Hollywoods seedier side, but it's dealt here with a fist fully loaded with ham, and alongside Hartnett, the cast are simply putting in over camp pantomime performances.Johanssen, when she's not looking at Hartnett from the top of the stairs, is just mind numbing as a wannabe Femme Fatale, woefully miscast in her role.Swank makes an extended cameo and spends the majority of it in bed, but she has a secret that is pivotal to the narrative AKA she helps to end it.Eckhart phones in his performance, mugging aimlessly throughout, and just adding to the whole mess.It's nothing more than a best of De Palma cinematography compilation, featuring a miscast, usually better people, a pantomime villain, and it will leave you with a headache and a tinge of anger, because you know the director is so much better than this.

Dalbert Pringle No. It wasn't just the presence of that little "dimple-chin", Aaron Eckhart, who ultimately ruined this utterly pretentious "Cop" movie for me. But Eckhart sure played a major part in bringing The Black Dahlia (TBD, for short) down to its sub-par level, but fast.TBD was the sort of below-average picture that quickly encouraged this viewer to keep his remote firmly in hand with index-finger waiting impatiently to press the fast-forward button at a split-second's notice.Here's a movie whose 2-hour running time could have easily been edited down to 90 minutes. And it's also a movie which proved that director Brian De Palma is clearly no longer a master of his craft as a film-maker (as he was once considered to be by many film buffs).As well - TBD was an atrociously dull and totally inaccurate re-telling of a true murder case that had shocked the public silly and sent the LAPD on a wild-goose chase back in 1947.Regardless of its $50 million budget and its meticulous attention to period detail, TBD was far from coming close to being a first-rate production on any level.And when it eventually came down to this film's final revelations (concerning the true identity of Elizabeth Short's murderer), it was such a stupid, laughable joke, that it wasn't even worth the 110-minute wait at all.

SnoopyStyle Beat cop Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) meets LAPD detective Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) during a Zoot Suit riot. The higher ups come up with a fight between the two ex-boxers to drum up support for a police pay raise. They become homicide detective partners. Bucky, Lee and his girlfriend Kay Lake (Scarlett Johansson) form a love triangle. In 1947, the cops discover the mutilated body of a girl called the Black Dahlia by the press. Bucky's investigation leads to Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank) from a wealthy family who bears a resemblance to the Black Dahlia.This movie has style to spare. Brian De Palma has stuffed it overflowing with style. It is a gorgeous movie to look at. The story is another ... story. It is a mess. I don't know why the movie spends so much time with the boxing or the leads dancing around. The story is begging to be a hard-boiled police investigation. It gets bog down with all kinds of unnecessary junk. The actors are generally good enough but Hartnett does come off a little stiff. Mia Kirshner does a good turn as the sad murdered beauty Elizabeth Short. Somehow watching her in black and white makes it very compelling.