SinginDetective



		The Singing Detective Dir. Keith Gordon

	Psst, hey� Want to see a guy with demons? Sometimes funny, sometimes disturbing, completely engrossing, The Singing Detective claims to have all clues, no solutions. It delivers exactly that. The main character, Dan Dark, is played amazingly well by Robert Downey, Jr. Maybe Downey brings his own problems with reality to this role, but he�s frighteningly convincing as a guy who can�t separate his life from the story he�s created in his book "The Singing Detective." In the movie, though, the book is deeply rooted in Dark�s real life, so maybe it�s no wonder he can�t tell them apart. The show is about an author hospitalized with an unexplained skin condition. It�s a disgusting, painful condition that gives the appearance that he�s rotting off in patches. Dark has a temper problem, which he unleashes with either exquisitely chosen words or screaming profanities. He is constantly reworking his original book in his mind, to the point he crosses over into visual hallucinations. He puts himself in the character of the detective who sings professionally to supplement his income. The hospital puts Dark in touch with the resident psychoanalyst, Dr. Gibbon (Mel Gibson.) They discover in the book many things relating to Dark�s childhood, linking them to the skin disease and his hallucinations. Watching Downey and Gibson work together in this odd movie is satisfying, although I couldn�t tell you why. I also like the idea that humans are complicated, messy creatures, so aren�t going to be fixed up all nice and pretty. It�s not our nature, although I hope not many are as messed up as Dan Dark. I love this movie, and I recommend it highly if you�re looking for variety in your movie diet. You aren�t going to find very many more different than this one. I rate it: Full Price Robert Downey Jr. as Dan Dark: Author/Private Eye Robin Wright Penn as Nicola: Wife/Slut Mel Gibson as Dr. Gibbon: Psychoanalyst/Guide Jeremy Northam as Mark Binney: Various Sleazeballs Katie Holms as Nurse Mills: Nurse/Object of Fantasy

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