Robin Wright Penn Movie:

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		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
If you can pull The Singing Detective out from under the long shadow cast by the acclaimed 1986 British miniseries, Keith Gordon's 109-minute film version achieves its own distinction. It was a daring (and some might say foolhardy) assignment to film Dennis Potter's screenplay, written out of Potter's desire to see his semi-autobiographical drama in feature-length form, but Gordon rose to the occasion with a superlative cast led by Robert Downey, intense as ever as Potter's on-screen alter ego. Bedridden with an excruciating case of skin-rotting psoriasis, pulp novelist Dan Dark (Downey) escapes into his vivid imagination, where gunmen and gumshoes pursue their pulpy agenda, casting himself as the titular "warbler" whose pain and anger is focused like a laser on his cheating wife (Robin Wright Penn) and anyone else who's made his real and imaginary worlds unbearable. Coproducer Mel Gibson appears under heavy makeup as Dark's condescending psychiatrist, and supporting roles are played with stylish flair by Adrien Brody, Katie Holmes, Jeremy Northam, Carla Gugino, and others. While many critics called this a noble failure, The Singing Detective captures the essence of Potter's story, offering a welcome alternative to the acknowledged superiority of the miniseries. --Jeff Shannon

The Singing Detective [Region 2] Reviews:
Sexist, predictable, profane, boring - I could not watch it.
2009-03-29 - I thought this might be a fun movie - a cross between the detective genre & a musical, Robert Downey - but was very soon offended by the portrayals of women (all 1-dimensional sex objects stripping in cabarets, boring...), the egregious constant sexual references - for God's sake, don't watch this with children! - and the predictability of the characters. Some boring old-fashioned sexist male idiot's fantasies, I could not watch more than 10 minutes. Too bad Robert Downey allowed himself to be talked into this one. The Singing Detective

Entertaining on its own merits
2009-01-04 - I've never seen the original BBC series by Dennis Potter, which I think helps me to see this version in a more objective light. My understanding is that this is not just a "shortened" version of the BBC series but rather a complete reworking by Potter himself (based on the script he wrote) which does in fact happen to be shorter in length. It seems the action has been moved--again, by Potter himself--from England in the 1940's to America in the 1950's, with songs appropriate to that time and place used to explore the motivations of the characters. Having listened to the director's commentary, it seems as though the director of this version was very concerned about staying faithful to Potter's words and intentions.

That said, I think the film can be enjoyed even by those who know nothing about its background. Yes, it's a little offbeat--a dark comedy in which the past and the present, as well as fictional worlds, collide in the mind of one physically and emotionally sick man, complete with stylized musical numbers that may seem to come from nowhere. But I thought it was quite good once I got into its spirit--funny, sad, surprising, moving, and ultimately upbeat without ever feeling forced, manipulative, or weird merely for the sake of being weird. I thought all the actors were excellent; Robert Downey Jr. as the vitriolic writer at the center of the action and Mel Gibson as the awkward therapist who tries to help him stand out especially.

I wrote this review to give people a different perspective from the single previous review, in which this version was compared to the original BBC series and came out the worse. I feel that this version is not simply a "remake" or an "update"--implying it's a cheap knock-off made to squeeze more money out of the franchise--but rather a new examination of the story by the same author in a different time and place. I think people who give it a chance without constantly comparing it to the older version will be pleasantly surprised.

A big disappointment
2008-11-11 - In the world of writer Dennis Potter (PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, LIPSTICK ON YOUR COLLAR), upbeat songs are used to contrast the gloomy lives of Potter's downbeat characters. Keith Gordon's adaptation of Potter's THE SINGING DETECTIVE stands in the mighty shadow of the acclaimed 6-hour BBC television production (1986). I suppose Gordon's effort should be judged on its own merits, but since I saw the BBC miniseries first, it's impossible for me not to draw comparisons.

Robert Downey Jr. plays a writer hospitalized for an extreme case of eczema, a skin disease that results in inflammation and scaliness (in real life, Potter suffered from the same disorder). During his stay, Downey, a miserable misogynist, frequently escapes into the fictional life of his alter ego, a singing detective. In these fantasies, he finds himself confronting many long-suppressed emotional issues.

The BBC version had the luxury of exploring its protagonist over a six-hour duration, allowing lead actor Michael Gambon to infuse his character with the sort of subtle shadings that are nowhere to be found in this remake. With only 108 minutes to cover the same ground, Robert Downey Jr. turns in rushed, one-note performance, though probably not through any fault of his own. But he's still one cranky jerk and after a while, even the most indulgent viewer will lose interest in him, and begin wondering why they should care about any of his whining. Without the key ingredient of audience sympathy, Gordon's film implodes.

In Gordon's defense, Dennis Potter's work is notoriously tricky to adapt; Potter's writings are populated by unappealing souls and his technique of allowing songs to convey a character's suppressed emotions is a conceptual conceit that can--and often does--grow tiresome. When it's done correctly, however, it makes for compelling, disturbing entertainment. For that reason, I advise you to skip this film, and check out the BBC version of THE SINGING DETECTIVE and the underrated Steve Martin film PENNIES FROM HEAVEN.


A Lively Nightmare
2008-09-02 - This movie didn't seem to get very good reviews. After seeing it myself, I'm frankly kinda stumped. It's malevolent and weird, but it certainly isn't dull; it's nightmarish and surreal, but not to the point that you can't tell what's going on. Plus, the acting is great and the concept disturbing. As unpleasant as parts of it were, I'm going to watch it again.
Part of the problem is, this movie is a remake of a much better TV series. The TV series ran 7 1/2 hours, and this movie has *somehow* been cut down to 2. Okay. You can guess what happened. In an attempt to trim off fat, they whittled the plot down to an incomplete skeleton. But it all still makes sense, and I enjoyed doing my own job of guessing and reconstruction.
I think the other problem is that people see the title, and expect a fun, flashy crime story. This movie is not what you'd call "fun", unless you love a good Lynch or Cronenberg marathon.
Also, if you want to ogle Robert Downey Jr.--and that's a good and admirable pastime, I applaud it--this movie will bother you. He spends most of it looking like he's in the last stages of radiation poisoning. His dreamworld alter-ego is handsome enough, but rendered as a flat-voiced, shiny-eyed Invasion Of The Body Snatchers doppelganger. I had to remind myself that it was only an actor in makeup; the illness portrayed here is horribly hopeless and seems very real. (Which is too bad. Here Downey is, ferociously good, filled with rage and scorching the paint off the walls, and I'm duckeng the effects as fast as I can.)
Yeah, Downey is great in this; he goes from a sick, vicious, venomous [...] in the first half to a slightly-less sick, more charming, more frightening head case in the second half. More frightening, as he becomes less insane? Absolutely. In the first half of the movie, you know what he will do--he's going to break every bone in your body, if he could just beat the pain enough to lever himself out of bed. In the second half, he is a gentler lunatic, still lashing out, but also experiencing moments of dotty clarity; he is picking up pieces of his own broken mind and saying "Oooh. Look at that." Watching the expressions flicker across Downey's face is amazing. There is a moment when his wife says something to him, something innocent which still brings up a flare of insanity. You see a blaze of fear and paranoia, an "Uh oh, what am I doing?" moment, then a forced calm as he reminds himself that he shouldn't follow that impulse.
Anyway, enough. I highly recommend this movie if you like good acting, if you like being disturbed, if you want so0me Twilight Zone to chew on. It is much more unnerving than some horror films I've seen, and the ending is happy in a horrifying way. Go ahead, it's great, you just have to like this sort of thing and be in the mood for it. Watch it on Halloween, I dare you.



This needs more than one viewing
2008-06-13 - What can I say? I was a Singing Detective virgin, being ignorant of the British TV show or the story line. I bought it for Robert Downey, Jr. It is weird, disturbing and pulls you in like a moth to a flame. I have watched it several times now, getting a little more understanding every time I do. My favorite scene is the Mr. Sandman number. How funny!

The acting is supurb; why this didn't get any critical acclaim is beyond me. Robert Downey Jr proves, yet again, that professionally no one can touch him. He is a rare class of actor that can deliver any range be it humor or tragedy. This role had to be a challenge though with the total body make up needed for Dan Dark's horrible skin condition; not to mention the emotional roller coaster the character is on. The man appears to cry real tears at one point! Kudos RDJ!! I wish The People could vote for Oscar winners and not "The Academy". There would be a lot of different winners. RDJ would have several of the gold guys on his mantelpiece if I had anything to do with it.

I don't care for the ending at all; I probably don't totally understand it yet. For a SD newbie, trying to figure out which scene is in Dan Dark's tortured mind or is for real is part of the fun of this film. I intend to see the British series as soon as I can. Maybe I can understand the ending better. Hummm......

It's not for everyone but for those willing to take a risk and actually have to think about a story rather than just watch it, oh, do try this film.