TotalTelly.co.uk
Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV
The Singing Detective [2003]
![The Singing Detective [2003]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PY34YDRAL._SL160_.jpg)
RRP: £15.99
Our Price: £1.78 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
If you can pull the 2003 film version of The Singing Detective out from under the long shadow cast by the acclaimed 1986 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 Jr, 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
well worth it
Review date: 2008-10-01 Rating: 10 out of 10
its slow in places- but that adds to the feelings of this man's pain and confinement and robert downey jnr is just wonderful in this. well worth it.
Similar Products
Reviews
An excellent Film! A++++
Review date: 2008-06-20 Rating: 10 out of 10
I admit when I first saw this film, it was a little confusing, but the second I saw it I realised what a great film this is. Robert Downey Jr plays Dan Dark an author of detective novels. He's in hopsital suffering from psoriasis. His condition has made him very bitter and he spends most of his time laying in his hopsital bed with mental flashes of one of his books 'the singing detective' set in the 50's.
As he tries to recover in hospital, he constantly flashes back to the pages of his book, going over story lines and characters.
Robert Downey Jr also plays the part of 'The Singing Detective' the warbler who solves people's problems. This film is very clever at playing the two story lines together and it shows Robert Downey Jr's amazing talent at playing 2 very different characters in 1 movie.
This film has an amazing soundtrack with so many songs from the 50's era.
You have to see this film.
Don't dismiss it
Review date: 2006-05-15 Rating: 8 out of 10
As with many remakes it's easy to hold high expectations and draw comparisons either with the orginals or the book etc but there's nothing to be served by doing this when the objects are on different plains. It gave this film an unrealistic and unbearable expectation to begin with that critics soon expanded upon to really consign it into the bad idea bin of dramatisations, unfairly so.
Robert Downey Jnr gives one of his best performances and shows his true ability to undertake theatrical style work seriously and credibly, if not also admirably so considering the standard this work will always be judged by. He alone makes this the success that it is visually if not comercially. Brody at times was as he is rather wooden but he makes a fair attempt at the role if perhaps a little miscast. Katie Holmes although in her typical sweet role really makes an effort to get to grips with it too and proves she is more than a pretty face.
The visual style is at first a little strange perhaps and different from expectations - yet it ties in well with trying to recreate a theatre atmosphere, a direct viewer/play mode with camera angles, lighting and extended acting mannerisms. Being a film not a play experience this takes a while to get used to but is in itself a meticulous and conscientious if not always beneficial element that might be interpretated wrongly as simply modern style. The scenery and flashbacks work well and the story is both interesting, suspenseful and coherant.
If you withold from making comparisons and try to evaluate this adaptation as a seperate entity, and also consider it's American production, I don't think you can say there's much to find fault here at all. I personally didn't enjoy the BBC version - much like the do no wrong Pride and Prejudice, there is more to life than BBC productions - indeed Potter himself made these modifications intentionally. I found this very helpful in appreciating how it can be brought to screen successfully alongside Lipstick etc etc. I suspect most people viewing have some background knowledge on this story - perhaps with it's stature it will not generally be well received in those circles, yet if it encourages people to look more into the authors work or appreciate the story/play more then that perhaps is a more useful achievement. I don't feel in this case the criticism and burial of this film is deserved.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Katie Holmes
Jeremy Northam
Robin Wright Penn
Robert Downey Jr.
Mel Gibson
Creators:
Robert Downey Jr. (Primary Contributor)
Robin Wright Penn (Primary Contributor)
Mel Gibson (Producer)
Bruce Davey (Producer)
Jane Potter (Producer)
Kevin Lake (Producer)
Robert Potter (Producer)
Sarah Potter (Producer)
Dennis Potter (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: MGM Entertainment
Manufacturer: MGM Entertainment
EAN: 5050070022346
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2004-07-19
Number of discs: 1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 109 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2003
Language: English (Original Language)