Author Dan Dark
(Downey Jr.) is hospitalized with a horrible skin disease that has
left him in a mountain of pain. Add to that the emotional pain of
his past and Dark is the saddest human being on the planet. He
spends his days in hallucinatory fantasies about his wife and
several other people plotting against him. He also spends time
with a psychiatrist trying to rebuild himself emotionally.
CRITIQUE
It is very hard to
figure out what to say about this film. On one hand it is very
well acted by Robert Downey Jr. and Mel Gibson (in an
unrecognizable make-up job), and the two share the film's best
scenes together, but on the other hand it is very hard to care
about anything that is going on here.
Dark's problems are
very obvious right from the start while many of the film's supporting
characters go in and out of Dark's dream sequences, but are so
underdeveloped that their very presence on screen is confusing. They
also break out into musical numbers which appear to mean nothing to
the story.
But you may want to rent
The Singing Detective for Robert Downey Jr.'s cynical and
insufferable performance, and for the trippy way it goes in and out of
flashbacks and dream sequences. Otherwise, I really see no value in
the film at all.
THE VIDEO
"The Singing
Detective" is
presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Picture quality is
decent and fine for the film.
THE AUDIO
"The Singing
Detective" is
presented in English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. An English Dolby
Surround track also appears, plus English subtitles.
THE EXTRAS
The only special
feature the DVD contains is an audio commentary by director
Keith Gordon that's not very interesting or informative as
gaps of silence make it rather boring. A few insights may be
found, but none that matter.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Downey Jr. carries the
film, but there isn't much for him to carry.
