The Black Dahlia Critic Reviews

The first thing you notice about this so-so adaptation of James Ellroy's novel is the shoddy acting.Read the full review

The film is more than a little in love with the corruption it finds under the floorboards -- and that, of course, is perfectly dandy. I wouldn't trust a film noir that wasn't enthralled by decadence.Read the full review

A few scenes are worth the price of admission for their inspired camp alone; Shaw happens to be in two of them.Read the full review

The sloppiness of the ending doesn't only damage The Black Dahlia, it sinks the project.Read the full review

Looks and flows great, dripping with the 1940s crime-thriller atmosphere that James Ellroy described in his 1987 novel. On other levels -- plot (overstuffed), suspense (muted), acting (Hilary Swank as a femme fatale? Please!), posing (Scarlett Johansson plays dress-up as a mini Lana Turner), sex (it's all before and after) -- the movie is a bust.Read the full review

The world of The Black Dahlia is beyond bleak, beyond film noir.Read the full review

Even when engineering a howler like this, De Palma does it in such high style, with such a confident swagger, that the movie is half over before you realize how little is there.Read the full review

The second half feels heavy and unfulfilled, potential greatness reduced to a good movie plagued with problems.Read the full review

Mr. De Palma can be a director of dazzling creative lunacy, but there's little craziness in this restrained, awkward film. With the diverting exception of Hilary Swank, who plays a slinky degenerate named Madeleine Linscott, the leads are disastrous.Read the full review