Scarlett Johansson's work in Scoop was her only good acting so far, imho, but I didn't think she was so bad in Black Dahlia...

I think that she's a fine actress. So far, this is probably her worst performance that I've seen, (the Island doesnt count - haven't seen Scoop) but even here, she wasn't that bad. Just some ackward deliveries (but many people suffered from that in this film) and the fact that, though visually she fit perfect, she just doesn't sound like someone from the period. Plus, there was hardly a lot for her character to work with. Easily the most underwritten and worst written (most of her lines were cheesey enough to choke a mouse) of the film.
She's always solid enough, just hasn't had many films that really seemed to be perfect for her (save LiT and Ghost World)

Was that William Hurt as the guy speaking to Elizabeth Short in the film reels? It sounded awfully familiar.

I thought it was Hurt as well.

It was De Palma.

Oh crap, really? Those two are soundalikes then. Cool.

Brilliant film. One of the best of the year so far.

A

B+/A-

A bit disjointed and the acting is similarly rough (SJ and JH). Actually, had the story been refined a bit and the ending been a bit more tidy (thought the middle-end dragged too often) this would have been pretty wonderful. I'd say its one of the best period films since LA Confidential and quite worthy of a trip if you are considering seeing it. It isn't quite a knockout, but I really enjoyed it. Especially Swank. Makeshift, iirc, said it best when he mentioned that this film is all about extravagant characters. Indeed. Loved all of the characters, even if the acting could have been improved upon.

Well I was quite entertained and enjoyed myself, actually.

Ever since I saw the trailer for THE BLACK DAHLIA, I thought it looked fantastic. As the release date grew closer and closer, reviews were pouring in about how horrible a film it was. While I was disappointed, I didn't let that get in the way of my anticipation. It wasn't until after DAHLIA was in theaters for a few weeks my expectations for it started to get slimmer and slimmer, until I had nearly none. I still expected to enjoy it, though. I'm happy to say I did enjoy it. It's not one of the year's ten best films in any way. Hell, it's not in the year's top fourty, but in a way I found it entertaining. The film's first hour was great, and I was ready to type about how much I was in love with it, and then I'd be bashed :p. The last fourty-five minutes was confusing, and it was far too long, which brought my grade down quite a bit. Still, I enjoyed it. None of the performances were too bad. Josh Hartnett was probably the worst, but he was still watchable. I hated his narration, and I found it really annoying. Scarlett Johansson was pretty good, but not as excellent as many of her other films that were made in the past few years. Mia Kirshner was great, and I wish she had more screentime. Hilary Swank was also alright, but it was annoying how her accent was either on or off. Fiona Shaw was hysterical (was the scene near the end supposed to be funny?), whether she was supposed to be or not. That's really all I have to say about THE BLACK DAHLIA. It's not good, it's not bad. It's just sort of in the middle.

6/10 (B-)

Really all over the place and confusing. Perhaps because I saw it in a theatre with my friends, but I got completely lost at parts of it, and especially at the end. I'll have to watch it again, by myself on DVD, to see if I like it anymore. Suffice to say, I didn't like it much the first time around. Some of the time I had no idea what the characters were saying, and I really didn't understand their motivations a lot of the time. And that ending came and went, and I still didn't know what happened. There was some interesting scenes - the POV scene was kinda cool, though I wish it had lasted throughout the whole dinner scene - and interesting characters - the drunk mother had me in stitches - and the film has style (I liked the occasional use of deep focus), but that's about it. The acting was all-around unimpressive, and the story was a mess. Quite disappointing.

C-

B+, great visual style and the overall feel of the film felt more James Ellroyish than in L.A. Confidential, even though L.A. Confidential was an overall better movie. The camera work, art direction, direction, and mood was top-notch. However, it could've used better editing (too much felt cut out with bad transitioning) and better acting (Mia Kirshner was excellent though).

I actually didn't rate this at all.

There's no accounting for taste, of course, but to me, the film noir elements seemed a bit silly... more a pastiche of the genre than a sincere use. I know people who liked this aspect of the film, but I felt that it was poorly done and not to my taste.

The fact that it softened the impact of an iconically eerie, very scary, real life murder by drowning it in what was essentially (in my opinion) a less colourful Dick Tracy the Movie.

The fact that they used a actual autopsy photo of the real life Black Dahlia's face in the background at one point. Maybe I'm a prude (my internet favourites list says I'm probably not!) but one of the things that I find tasteless is the use of footage or photos like that for entertainment purposes. The fact remains that, on the set of the Black Dahlia, a black and white headshot of a mutilated murder victim became "scenery".

Oh, and the fact that the plot needed us to suspend belief to the point where two very different women looked not only alike, but alike to the point where (for some weird reason) it's the talk of the town. "I positively had to meet the girl who everyone was saying looked like me," we're told (or words to that effect). Sounds like "everyone" was taking the piss out of her.

Don't get me wrong, it was moderately diverting + I wouldn't have asked for my money back, but I thought that this was lots of sizzle, not much steak, and could've been done much better

C.

I thought it was pretty much garbage.

Very pretty film, and it actually sustains some momentum in the first hour or so, but it derails so hardcore into a boring, convoluted, over-the-top mess that I had absolutely no interest in who murdered Elizabeth, or anything, for that matter.

The scene near the end with Hilary Swank's character and her mother and father is riotously bad. Prior indications of a campy tone might have been nice.

And Scarlett Johansson, wow... talk about phoning it in.

C

Black Dahlia was painfully slow and boring to me. I thought Josh Hartnett was way over his head. I didn't like any of the fictional elements, and in the end the whole thing was completely not what I was expecting from the movie. I could have quit watching it midway through and been much happier, and I did start to tune it out midway through and had no idea what was going on by the end, out of lack of caring. It seemed to get worse as it went along, and ended up feeling like a 4 hour movie.

It earns a solid F from me... and I don't give many of those out. It's rare that I actually think of stopping a movie midway through, but I seriously considered it here.

Saw this movie on cable the other day.

I did not like it.

Name a reason, it's probably right.

*

This was horrid.

Not flat out bad, I mean I was entertained for the most part throughout, but the movie has absolutely no point.

I guess, as it's strength, the characters were strong because I was interested in them but not what they were doing.

Hell, I didn't even think they were doing anything anymore and when the end came around, I actually remembered oh wait it's supposed to be about the murder thing. It was just random and pointless.

I'm not sure what the little praise in here is about either. The storyline/plot/point of the movie is the murder mystery, hence the synopsis, name and ending, thus, by making it irrelevant and forgettable during it, it fails. Was the revelation supposed to be rewarding? Supposed to end the story? Supposed to make you go woah?

Those clues that came together were inconsequential and pointless. If you want to strip it bare, this film was about Hartnett screwing different women. He didn't even find out who it was, since he did it wrongly, Eckhart's character was off-screen so much of the time I was wondering if he had gone mad for no reason. It's just a beautiful mess.

C- or less.