"A man once told me that you step out of your door in the morning, and you are already in trouble. The only question is are you on top of that trouble or not?"The year is 1948, the place is Los Angeles, and Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins (Denzel Washington) is a black man who has just lost his job and is in dire need of money. So, despite having no experience as a private eye, Easy accepts an assignment from a seedy man (Tom Sizemore) to find the missing Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), the mistress of a powerful mayoral candidate. As Rawlins conducts his search, he unexpectedly becomes drawn into a complex racially-charged web of intrigue involving political machinations, double-crossings, blackmail, and mysterious deaths. With the aid of his trigger-happy friend Mouse (Don Cheadle), Easy must rely on his instincts and neophyte detective skills, not only to solve the case, but also to save his life. African-American director Carl Franklin (ONE FALSE MOVE) brings Walter Mosley's crime series to life with this dense thriller, aided greatly by Tak Fujimoto's sun-soaked photography and an electric soundtrack reflecting the music of the times. As Easy Rawlins, an everyman who finds himself an unwilling pawn in a dangerous game of mystery and murder, Washington delivers an intense performance. It is Don Cheadle, however, who steals the show, giving his hot-tempered Mouse a comic humanity that is at once menacing, hysterical, and unforgettable.
This was one of those films that grabs your attention in many ways whether its the acting, the cinematography, or the plot itself. I was a huge fan of the book, so I expected the same from the movie. Some have even said, "in the aftermath of the Oscars, it now seems clear that Devil in a Blue Dress was one of the best films of 1995. "
Many critics applauded Don Cheadle's performance. Jerry Renshaw said, "Cheadle steals every scene where he appears as Mouse..." And to think this is where Cheadle's journey would begin with key roles such as this one. He surprised us with his performance and that is a true delight.
Devil in a Blue Dress was an incredible film that definitely became one of the most under-rated films in 1995. Director, Carl Franklin's adaptation does true justice to this exciting novel he might want to consider another one of Mosely's stories. (Just a thought...) "Overall this is a solidly enjoyable detective story with all the twists and turns that you could expect from that genre. However it also benefits from a great sense of place and time that is all though the film – not merely painted on with sets or soundtrack. A class act from Washington and others just adds to the feeling of quality. "
Some background info:
*Carl Franklin wrote and directed the neo-noir because he liked Walter Mosley's novel. (Walter Mosley served as an associate producer in the film.) He thought the work was more than a detective story. Franklin says author Mosley was able to transform an everyday guy into a detective. In the editing process Franklin had to cut a steamy love scene between Beals and Washington because he believed the scene wasn't needed to convey the story.
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