One of Robert Downey Jr.'s best performances that nobody seems to know about which is a true shame. A very interesting dream or reality? See for yourself. If you love Downey Jr. this is a must see.
I've seen a good chunk on TV and was throroughly impressed by Downey Jr.'s performance. The premise is kooky and the songs are wonderful. Can't wait to find this on DVD!
Basada en la teleserie de la BBC creada por Dennis Potter en 1986, quien también firma el guión, el personaje principal, el sexualmente reprimido Dan Dark (Downey Jr.), escritor de relatos policíacos, a simple vista parece ser un alter ego del joven actor neoyorkino, y a quien podemos ver ahora en Iron Man (2008) interpretando a Tony Stark.
De entrada, The Singing Detective es una ?terapia psiquiátrica? a ritmo de baladas románticas y rock de los 1950, que narra en la forma de un atípico musical la rehabilitación por la que tendrá que pasar Dark, usando la freudiana técnica de ir hacia atrás en el recuerdo de sus propias vivencias, las cuales plasmó inconscientemente en su más reciente novela, The Singing Detective.
La película tiene unos buenos números musicales, bien ejecutados y montados, y los actores muestran un gran desempeño intentando bailar y cantar. Sin embargo, no será la parte musical por la que el filme valga, sino por la eficaz mezcla de géneros entre el film-noir y el musical, la impecable factura visual y pulidísima fotografía de Tom Richmond, el diseño de producción de Patricia Norris y la solvencia de Gordon para dirigir a todo su reparto, empezando por la buena actuación de Robert Downey Jr., acompañado por Robin Wright Penn, Katie Holmes, Adrien Brody y Jeremy Northam. Más en http://pantallanueve.blogspot.com
Yes, it is a poor musical if you assume it's just a musical. It's not; it's an outstading movie that goes inside the character's mind. It's bizarre, strange and weird. It's very, very good!
Very strange. I can't recommend this to anyone because it will take a special kind of person to appreciate this movie. I am not one of thsoe special kinds of people.
i herad that the show was better but i love robert downey and katie holmes so if they are in it i could care less if it sucks just whether they are good or not
i saw the series when i was sick and mum didn't get that it hurt to laugh and i was in just as much pain as the guy in it, and she kept making me watch it!!
I turned it off after the first 20 minutes. This is absolutely the worst 20 minutes of movie I've ever seen. I really can't emphasize enough not to waste your time on this movie.
Not the best film ever and confusing but worth watching if you agree Robert Downey Jr has a beautiful voice, aslo worth watching if you have a mother like mine who'll sing to every song because it makes the whole experience more enjoyable. I also love the car advert with Robert in spoofing the film.
It's far from perfect, and seemed to end rather abruptly, but this bizarre film houses one of the best performances I've seen in quite a while. I've always sort of liked Robert Downey Jr., but he seemed like such an odd fellow, always gettin' himself into tight squeezes, and waking up in rehab. His work here puts him easily among my favourite working actors. It's a tough job carrying a film noir that, drops its detective story in favour of the crumbling life of its author, but as both the titular (yet nameless) pulp hero and his trash-novelist creator Dan Dark, Downey pulls it off.
You see, years ago Dark wrote a pulp noir novel called The Singing Detective, and now, years later, as his rare affliction makes the skin rot right from his bones, he's living it...or maybe just losing his mind. It's a bizarre concept that makes for a bizarra experience, and you have to be ready for it or you'll probably put off. But as a fan of pulp noir, and as someone who wanted to like the movie's star more than I already did, it was what the doctor ordered.
And speaking of doctors, Mel "The anti-semitic undertones of The Passion were pure coincidence!" Gibson shows up here in a supporting role, wearing bad glasses and a bald cap as Dark's shrink. It's a quirky bit part, but he plays it well. Quite well actually, one of the better performances of his long, over-rated career. Adrien Brody and Jon Polito are also rather comical in supporting roles as some two-bit hoods, But who cares about the supporting cast, it's Downey's movie and good God he's magnificent. The subtleties of his mood-swings, the timing of his words as Dan writes his book out-loud, punctuation and all. The sheer amount of information he can transmit from just his eyes alone, and he sits, caked in make-up to look as if he has psoriasis (the make-up actually does look real, I', just getting technical). It's a wonderful performance, antithesized perfectly by...Downey himself, as the suave, warbling Singing Detective.
The movie's a trip, and one that's absolutely worth taking.
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