Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 52
Fresh: 45 | Rotten: 7
Humor, interesting characters, and attention to details make the stylish Devil in a Blue Dress an above average noir.
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Critic Reviews: 15
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 4
Humor, interesting characters, and attention to details make the stylish Devil in a Blue Dress an above average noir.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 9,392
Denzel Washington stars in this adaptation of the novel by African-American crime author Walter Mosley, the first of his stories to reach the screen. Ezekiel Rawlins (Washington), known to his friends as "Easy," has just lost his job at an aircraft plant in post-WW II Los Angeles, a time when good-paying jobs for black men are hard to come by. He's wondering how to make his mortgage payment when he's approached by De Witt Albright (Tom Sizemore), who describes his job as "doing favors for
Sep 29, 1995 Wide
Mar 9, 1999
TriStar
All Critics (52) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (46) | Rotten (7) | DVD (5)
Entering the main flow of the story relatively late, Don Cheadle steals all his scenes as a live-wire, trigger-happy old buddy of Easy's from Texas, while Sizemore and Mel Winkler, as colorful underworld figures, make strong impressions.
The role of Easy looks as tailor-made for Mr. Washington as his suit, and it shows off the full effect of this actor's movie-star dazzle.
A fluid, persuasive piece of movie-making graced with the considerable visual sophistication.
The film also does a convincing job of re-creating Los Angeles of 1948 with both specificity and poetry.
A bland, workaday detective flick.
The movie simmers with pungent suspense, humor and eroticism.
Stylish neo-noir.
Invoking social realism more than pulp fiction, Carl Franklin's Devil in a Blue Dress is an innovative genre film on several counts.
In the aftermath of the Oscars, it now seems clear that Devil in a Blue Dress was one of the best films of 1995.
Carl Franklin's unusually creative studio movie, boasting superlative acting from Denzel Washington and particularly newcomer Don Cheadle, reinvents a genre and a bygone era, in this case, Los Angeles circa 1948.
Sheer pleasure.
Great, grand piece of modern noir, with a unique twist that rethinks the genre even as it honors its finest elements. Great performances all around.
A very complex and engrossing mystery, filled with wonderful period details.
...a throwback to the gumshoe tales of the thirties and forties.
Production design and acting aside, this film is less than one wants it to be.
Monstrously funny and truly scary, Cheadle is handed a scene-stealing role and never hesitates to do it justice.
A lot of this movie is unintentionally funny, mostly because it is so obvious in trying to mock the whole Film Noir genre. However, it really doesn't end up doing so visually, which makes no sense really. It has a very unnecessary voice-over from Denzel Washington that really takes you out of the story rather than
December 15, 2010Super Reviewer
Honest working stiff Denzel Washington finds himself out of a job and desperate for money, so he accepts a job locating a young woman for a shady stranger. Devil In A Blue dress is an extremely stylish modern noir with a slightly different slant; the setting of a post war Los Angeles within the African American
June 7, 2007
Super Reviewer
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