The Singing Detective (2003)
Average Rating: 5.1/10
Reviews Counted: 106
Fresh: 41 | Rotten: 65
Delightful performance from Robert Downey Jr. can't save The Singing Detective's transition from TV to the big screen.
Average Rating: 5/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 20
Delightful performance from Robert Downey Jr. can't save The Singing Detective's transition from TV to the big screen.
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Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 7,440
My Rating
Movie Info
From director Keith Gordon (Mother Night, A Midnight Clear) comes this American feature adaptation of the 1986 BBC miniseries, The Singing Detective. Robert Downey Jr. returns to the big-screen for the first time since 2000's Wonder Boys as Dan Dark, a novelist who is hospitalized with a severe case of psoriasis. As he lays in bed, Dark hallucinates that he is actually a World War II-era private dick embroiled in an oddball web of mystery, intrigue, and musical numbers. Written by the late
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Cast
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Robert Downey Jr.
Dan Dark -
Robin Wright
Blonde, Nicola, Nina -
Mel Gibson
Dr. Gibbon -
Jeremy Northam
Mark Binney -
Katie Holmes
Nurse Mills -
Adrien Brody
First Hood -
Jon Polito
Second Hood -
Carla Gugino
Betty Dark, Hooker -
Saul Rubinek
Skin Specialist -
Alfre Woodard
Chief of Staff -
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The Singing Detective Trailer & Photos
All Critics (115) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (43) | Rotten (65) | DVD (20)
Catch it to see a major performance by a magnetic actor, but go in with patience and with the realization that the film is something of an interesting failure.
Top Critic... it is just a little bit too much of a disjointed mess.
When I saw it at Sundance, my attention was divided because I was trying to process the meaning of the jagged structure. Seeing it again a week ago, knowing what to expect, I found it a more moving experience.
The Singing Detective has to settle for a hung jury.
It stands completely on Downey's tragi-comic performance, although the rest of the cast -- particularly Penn and Gibson -- do good work as well.
Although the miniseries spent time developing the strands of the interwoven stories, the movie flits from idea to idea and plays like a chaotic, failed experiment.
The film's colorful song-and-dance set pieces rely on lip-synced '50s songs that are the weakest link in a bumbling but gregarious movie.
Inventive mess, filled with pock marks.
Director Keith Gordon lends his observations and interesting insights to a good commentary track.
The first two thirds are a lot of fun and a showcase for Robert Downey Jr.'s immense talents.
The concept is clever, but the film's parts don't fit well and the main character is one of the least likable you'll find.
The Singing Detective is like a dream that you are still a little confused by when you wake up. It's not for everyone, but it's a fun ride if you dive in face first.
This neurotic noir actually has something to say and a story to tell.
Audience Reviews for The Singing Detective
Super Reviewer
When it cut to action from the novel our hero (Downey Jr.) has written, I really liked the visual style, and overall, the story told in flashbacks is well-done, near-perfect noir, in fact; when it steps outside the frame, however, and tells the present day story - with the characters from the books interfering in some strange meta-fictional way - it loses its momentum, getting downright hammy in places.
And then, there are the musical numbers...
An ambitious film, but I'm not sure I mean it as a compliment; Joe Baltake probably said it best when he called this one an "interesting failure." Check it out, if for no other reason than this: it's different than most everything else you're watching.
Super Reviewer
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Latest News on The Singing Detective
December 6, 2010:
Robert Downey, Jr. Books a MusicalRobert Downey, Jr. is attached to star in a Warner Bros. musical from the award-winning team behind...
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