After two hours of meandering, convoluted indulgences and loose ends, 'The Black Dahlia' reveals a kinder, gentler Brian De Palma. He should be a good guy to have around.
Comment
10/13/06
Rate this Movie 
The Black Dahlia (2006)
34
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
Reviews Counted:179
Fresh:61
Rotten:118
Average Rating:4.9/10
Consensus: Though this ambitious noir crime-drama captures the atmosphere of its era, it suffers from subpar performances, a convoluted story, and the inevitable comparisons to other, more successful films of its genre.
Theatrical Release:Sep 15, 2006 Wide
Box Office: $22,518,325
Synopsis: Based on the novel by James Ellroy, Brian De Palma's THE BLACK DAHLIA stars Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart as a pair of LAPD detectives assigned to the most notorious murder in Hollywood history.... [More]
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Hilary Swank, Aaron Eckhart
Director: Brian De Palma
Get This Movie
Rent DVD
Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.
Buy DVD
Reviews for The Black Dahlia
An over cooked ham of a film, overstuffed with vampish performances and a narrative far too convoluted for its own good
10/10/06
The story is all over the place, leaving viewers with a complicated and disjointed picture that touches on interesting points without fleshing any of them out.
10/09/06
features amazing production design and a fascinating story at first, the film does eventually fall apart at the end.
10/03/06
full review in Greek
10/03/06
Until it derails while heading into its final turn, The Black Dahlia represents Brian De Palma's most assured moviemaking in at least a decade.
10/02/06
Kay is less a character than an image of the Dahlia's opposite (the blond/beige look versus the dark-haired/black-dressed look being your first clue).
10/01/06
The Black Dahlia is both a studious new entry to the genre and a schizophrenic parody of it.
09/30/06
Forty-five minutes in, I was already glancing at my watch and wondering why the only lively actress in this film was playing the dead girl. Go figure.
09/30/06
Highly stylized and overburdened with plot yet always engaging.
09/29/06
The movie, like the case, has some loose ends and some compelling moments.
09/29/06
With fall and its promise of better movies on the horizon, this movie, like "Hollywoodland," could have been among the most exciting of the new season. That neither is true for either movie isn't exactly encouraging.
09/29/06
A slick but empty period noir. De Palma can do better than this.
09/29/06
... Hillary Swank gives a Lauren Bacall edge to her femme fatale ...
09/28/06
the convoluted story never really takes hold, and eventually it all dissolves into low camp and unintentional self-parody.
09/27/06
Forget it, Jake. It's not Chinatown.
09/27/06
The Black Dahlia uses many cinematic contrivances that do not help tell the story of who killed Elizabeth Short.
09/26/06
The Black Dahlia is not a black mark on the talent track record of anyone involved. Yet with such a potentially powerful story, it should have been something very special.
09/26/06
Ellroy’s prose crawls into characters’ secret hearts and under the reader’s skin, but its foetid horrors become kitschy here, the script too streamlined and the lead performances too shallow to dredge the story’s depths.
09/23/06
The pairing of Ellroy and De Palma proves a marriage made in hardboiled heaven.
09/23/06
Latest News for The Black Dahlia
October 11, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: Wide Open Race For #1 Spot This Weekend
Five new films push their way into nationwide release on Friday hoping to challenge two-time champ The Rock making for what should be a free-for-all at the North American box... More...
September 13, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: Jodie's Got A Gun!
Two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster returns to the big screen this weekend in the vigilante thriller The Brave One which has its sights set on an easy top spot debut. The frame's... More...
March 05, 2007:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Audiences Ride with Wild Hogs at #1
Moviegoers rallied behind the star-driven comedy "Wild Hogs," which raced to number one at the North American box office, zooming past all expectations from Disney.... More...
March 01, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: "Wild Hogs" Aims to Run Over "Ghost Rider"
One super hero on a motorcycle looks to get replaced by four middle-aged bikers at the number one spot at the North American box office this weekend. More...
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
MSN's Year in Review 
Take a look at MSN's choices for the Top 10 films of 2009.
Moviefone's Year End Poll
What were your favorites? Least favorites? The funniest and scariest? Moviefone wants to know!
Tarantino's Characters
Hollywood.com explores why QT's characters resonate so well with audiences.
Top 10 Movies of 2009
TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.
Top 20 of the Decade
Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds