Critic Reviews
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Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
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.
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Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
... it is just a little bit too much of a disjointed mess.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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.
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Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
The Singing Detective has to settle for a hung jury.
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Tom Long, Detroit News
It stands completely on Downey's tragi-comic performance, although the rest of the cast -- particularly Penn and Gibson -- do good work as well.
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Bill Muller, Arizona Republic
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.
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Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
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.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Inventive mess, filled with pock marks.
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Ryan Cracknell, Apollo Guide
The first two thirds are a lot of fun and a showcase for Robert Downey Jr.'s immense talents.
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Forrest Hartman, Reno Gazette-Journal
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.
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Jeff Otto, IGN Movies
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.
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James Verniere, Boston Herald
Worth seeing on the basis of its cast alone, although the characters being played are often so impressionistic, even the superstar lineup ends up being a bit distracting.
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Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine
Potter's gaze into the man's dark sexual and familial secrets isn't about one man's oppression, but about his self-imposed melodrama.
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Kim Linekin, eye WEEKLY
A flawed yet mesmerizing adaptation of the 1986 BBC mini-series.
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Prairie Miller, Long Island Press
Zany comic relief moments hold th film together when you might otherwise be, well, itching to flee the theater.
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Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
Perpetually feels as if it were a good idea that was never fully thought through.
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Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
Viewed purely as its own thing, The Singing Detective is a wonder to look at, centered by a compelling Downey performance
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Paul Doro, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The outstanding ensemble cast goes a long way toward redeeming things.
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Jim Lane, Sacramento News & Review
The film uneasily skims the surface like a stone over water, hitting highlights at random.
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Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
[Downey's] portrayal is engaging, witty and affecting -- and so is the film.
Read all 25 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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The original TV series The Singing Detective was a cutting edge mini-series that took British TV by storm and by surprise. Dennis Potter's play, and then TV series really did change the way people looked at TV programs around the globe, it is that significant. I balked at a film… More
The original TV series The Singing Detective was a cutting edge mini-series that took British TV by storm and by surprise. Dennis Potter's play, and then TV series really did change the way people looked at TV programs around the globe, it is that significant. I balked at a film version and so haven't wanted to watch it until now. For what it's worth, I think they did as good a job as they could. It's better than Romance and Cigarettes anyway. Robert Downey Jr's performance is pretty damn good and the editing reminded me that it was a Potter play. For the best part they got it right, I just wasn't and never could be as good as the original.
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A great performance by Robert Downey Jr., an early Katie Holmes role and a small part played by a heavily made-up Mel Gibson do their best, but they don't save this film from its sheer weirdness. Four words: lip-synched ensemble musical numbers.
When it cut to action from the… More
A great performance by Robert Downey Jr., an early Katie Holmes role and a small part played by a heavily made-up Mel Gibson do their best, but they don't save this film from its sheer weirdness. Four words: lip-synched ensemble musical numbers.
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.
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This could have been amazing, but it fell short of an interesting story. The cast was good, but didn't really get to show off their talent due to the script. Mel Gibson's psychotherapist character was by far the best part. If it would've just been an actual noir homage… More
This could have been amazing, but it fell short of an interesting story. The cast was good, but didn't really get to show off their talent due to the script. Mel Gibson's psychotherapist character was by far the best part. If it would've just been an actual noir homage then it would've been great.
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Um...Robert Jr is creepy, and has katie holmes do creepy things to his creepy body.
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This film adaptation of Dennis Potter's acerbic TV drama-comedy-musical sucks.
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The film is with the broad supports that are an exhilarating Robert Downey, Jr. and the solid lines he's given. However, the film unfortunately collapses under the pressure of little development, forced and poorly done musical numbers, repetition, inconsistancy and, of course,… More
The film is with the broad supports that are an exhilarating Robert Downey, Jr. and the solid lines he's given. However, the film unfortunately collapses under the pressure of little development, forced and poorly done musical numbers, repetition, inconsistancy and, of course, extreme underwhelmingness. In conclusion, the superb man of the hour doesn't quite keep the notes of "The Singing Detective" from falling flat.
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I had two reasons, one mainly for watching it... they were good reasons.
If I take away the enjoyment of those, the movie was pretty lame. I haven't seen the original TV thing of it so I can't compare. It seemed to be pretty pointless and nothing much happened. Yeah...… More
I had two reasons, one mainly for watching it... they were good reasons.
If I take away the enjoyment of those, the movie was pretty lame. I haven't seen the original TV thing of it so I can't compare. It seemed to be pretty pointless and nothing much happened. Yeah... also, I didn't recognize Mel Gibson at all, which was strange because I can usually recognize anyone...
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A very interesting dip into the tortured, sick mind of a mystery author. Downey Jr. was brilliant, as usual, giving Dark more bite than a bottle of Tabasco and more suppressed rage than a caged tiger. And that he is, caged in his own body - which is a nice contrast to the… More
A very interesting dip into the tortured, sick mind of a mystery author. Downey Jr. was brilliant, as usual, giving Dark more bite than a bottle of Tabasco and more suppressed rage than a caged tiger. And that he is, caged in his own body - which is a nice contrast to the mesmorizingly charming, self-controlled detective-Dark. That being said, the direction is wonderfully weird and the songs completely inappropriate, adding to the mayhem. The flashbacks and digressions into the novel are treated in the same fasion, leading to the blurring of lines between pulp fiction and reality. The pacing is a bit off and I feel that some of the "detective" scenes aren't as revealing as they could be, but you can't help but forgive that for the stunning cast work, both individually and as an ensemble. Great work here!
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This was good but the original tv version was far superior.
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I have never left a cinema during a movie, not even during The Avengers - but this made me run as fast as I could. The 20 or 30 minutes that I DID see were bad enough.
Read all 11 featured audience ratings
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