In the mid-1980s, the BBC ran a clever, nuanced, six-part
mini-series written by Dennis Potter called “The Singing
Detective.”
The landmark series followed the experiences of Dan Dark, a
novelist stricken with a debilitating skin disorder, who
hallucinates that he is a 1950’s noir-style private eye with
a side gig as a singer in a band. It was ironic, bleak, angry,
whimsical, dark and hilarious, and amazingly enough, a new
theatrical version starring Robert Downey Jr. has managed to
capture all those qualities in a new, more concise way.
By focusing on the elements of Dark’s (Downey) rootless
childhood that still haunt him, Potter and director Keith Gordon
(“A Midnight Clear”) have created a film of singular
vision that captures the anguish of chronic illness and the
temptation that modern life can provide to just go ahead and go
stark raving mad.
Downey turns in one of the most remarkable performances of his
career. Whether he’s covered from head to toe in oozing
blisters or cooly coiffed as the suave detective, Downey handily
and gracefully portrays Dark’s painful and very human
ordeal.
The choice of casting an actor whose public battle with
addiction mirrors the character’s struggle to overcome his
own disease only adds to the film’s palpable tension.
While the film undoubtedly belongs to Downey, the highly
pedigreed supporting cast can hardly be overlooked. Mel Gibson,
almost unrecognizable with a slump and a bald cap, makes for an
interesting and appropriately subdued Dr. Gibbon, the only one who
manages to get through to Dark.
Adrien Brody, Jeremy Northam and Robin Wright Penn turn in small
but excellent performances, while Katie Holmes may be the one weak
spot as the appealing but completely unbelievable Nurse Mills.
“The Singing Detective” will not be a successful
mainstream movie. It’s too weird, too thoughtful and too apt
to break into elaborate musical numbers to find much of an
audience. But in a year when risky filmmaking projects are few and
far between, it is a fresh fall offering and an enjoyable,
thought-provoking work.
““ Sommer Mathis