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The Singing Detective (film)

October 26, 2023

This article is about the film. For the television miniseries of the same name, see The Singing Detective.

The Singing Detective is a 2003 American musical crime comedy film directed by Keith Gordon and loosely based on the BBC serial of the same name, a work by British writer Dennis Potter. It stars Robert Downey Jr. and features a supporting cast that includes Katie Holmes, Adrien Brody, Robin Wright Penn, Mel Gibson, Jeremy Northam and Carla Gugino as well as a number of songs from the 1950s.

The Singing Detective
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKeith Gordon
Screenplay byDennis Potter
Based onThe Singing Detective
by Dennis Potter
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyTom Richmond
Edited byJeff Wishengrad
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Classics
Release dates
Running time
109 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8 million[2]
Box office$435,625[3]

Plot Edit

Detective novelist Dan Dark is hospitalized due to the skin disease psoriasis and crippling psoriatic arthritis. Around doctors and nurses, he occasionally hallucinates them in choreographed musical numbers. They attempt to help Dark, but are dismissed by Dark's anger and bitterness towards everyone. In an attempt to solve his mental issues, the doctors send him to psychiatrist Dr. Gibbon. The doctor suspects the thoughts behind these problems are in Dark's novel The Secret Detective, which is about a nightclub singer/private eye, hired by Mark Binney, who takes on a strange case involving prostitutes and two mysterious men. He fantasizes about the book during these meetings, with people from the real world acting as the fictional characters.

After reading some pages, Gibbon thinks Dark may have a problem with women. This leads to Dark flashing back to his childhood, when his mother worked as a prostitute and had sex with several men at the home, including his father's business partner. People he encountered in his childhood act as characters in fantasies of his novel; his mother is a prostitute, his father's business partner is a rich guy, and two passengers he only once encounter on a bus are thugs.

Despite his skin condition improving, his attitude worsens after learning a film studio is interested in purchasing the rights for The Singing Detective. He is informed of this by his wife Nicola, who also is a prostitute in the book fantasies. He is paranoid that Nicola is trying to steal the work so she can make money, and that Gibbon was met by a "whore" trying to get into the situation. Additionally, the two thugs from the fantasies have entered the real world, planning to rebel against the author for making them "stand around" constantly instead of playing more important roles, like being officers of the federal government.

Eventually, however, Dark is mentally cured through a civil discussion with Gibbon about his childhood. He states his father didn't care about him due to being a "pain-in-the-ass" to raise, and Dan was often alone in his room to read. His father also constantly beat up his wife and kid. Just as he is about to be released from the hospital, he has another hallucination where reality meets his novel fantasies; the two thugs quickly drag his hospital bed throughout the building and attempt to kill him, while he also imagines himself as the detective alongside other vaudeville women. It ends with the fictional detective shooting the real author. After the hallucination, he leaves the hospital with his wife.

Cast Edit

Production Edit

Potter's screenplay had been circulating in Hollywood for many years as Potter was enthusiastic about a film version. Robert Altman was at one time attached to direct with Dustin Hoffman in the lead, but financing proved difficult and the production was shelved. It was eventually discovered by an executive at Mel Gibson's production company Icon Productions, who loved it and got Gibson on board to produce. The screenplay had also been imagined as a horror film directed by genre veteran David Cronenberg and starring Al Pacino as the title character.[4]

Reception Edit

The film scored a 39% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews from 108 critics, with an average rating of 5.09/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Delightful performance from Robert Downey Jr. can't save The Singing Detective's transition from TV to the big screen".[5] While some critics, such as Roger Ebert, liked the film, others, like Joe Baltake at the Sacramento Bee, considered it an "interesting failure".[6]

Soundtrack Edit

The soundtrack to The Singing Detective was released on October 14, 2003. It consisted of songs from the 1950s rather than the 1940s as in the original television series.

References Edit

  1. ^ "THE SINGING DETECTIVE (15)". British Board of Film Classification. October 2, 2003. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
  2. ^ "The Singing Detective (2003) - Box office / business". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
  3. ^ "The Singing Detective (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
  4. ^ "The Singing Detective". November 14, 2003 – via IMDb.
  5. ^ "The Singing Detective". Rotten Tomatoes.
  6. ^ "The Singing Detective". Rotten Tomatoes.
  7. ^ The Singing Detective Soundtrack AllMusic. Retrieved February 27, 2014

External links Edit

October 26, 2023
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This article is about the film For the television miniseries of the same name see The Singing Detective The Singing Detective is a 2003 American musical crime comedy film directed by Keith Gordon and loosely based on the BBC serial of the same name a work by British writer Dennis Potter It stars Robert Downey Jr and features a supporting cast that includes Katie Holmes Adrien Brody Robin Wright Penn Mel Gibson Jeremy Northam and Carla Gugino as well as a number of songs from the 1950s The Singing DetectiveTheatrical release posterDirected byKeith GordonScreenplay byDennis PotterBased onThe Singing Detectiveby Dennis PotterProduced byBruce Davey Mel Gibson Steven Saxton Steven HaftStarringRobert Downey Jr Robin Wright Penn Jeremy Northam Katie Holmes Mel GibsonCinematographyTom RichmondEdited byJeff WishengradProductioncompanyIcon ProductionsDistributed byParamount ClassicsRelease datesJanuary 17 2003 2003 01 17 2003 Sundance Film Festival October 24 2003 2003 10 24 United States Running time109 minutes 1 CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 8 million 2 Box office 435 625 3 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 Soundtrack 6 References 7 External linksPlot EditDetective novelist Dan Dark is hospitalized due to the skin disease psoriasis and crippling psoriatic arthritis Around doctors and nurses he occasionally hallucinates them in choreographed musical numbers They attempt to help Dark but are dismissed by Dark s anger and bitterness towards everyone In an attempt to solve his mental issues the doctors send him to psychiatrist Dr Gibbon The doctor suspects the thoughts behind these problems are in Dark s novel The Secret Detective which is about a nightclub singer private eye hired by Mark Binney who takes on a strange case involving prostitutes and two mysterious men He fantasizes about the book during these meetings with people from the real world acting as the fictional characters After reading some pages Gibbon thinks Dark may have a problem with women This leads to Dark flashing back to his childhood when his mother worked as a prostitute and had sex with several men at the home including his father s business partner People he encountered in his childhood act as characters in fantasies of his novel his mother is a prostitute his father s business partner is a rich guy and two passengers he only once encounter on a bus are thugs Despite his skin condition improving his attitude worsens after learning a film studio is interested in purchasing the rights for The Singing Detective He is informed of this by his wife Nicola who also is a prostitute in the book fantasies He is paranoid that Nicola is trying to steal the work so she can make money and that Gibbon was met by a whore trying to get into the situation Additionally the two thugs from the fantasies have entered the real world planning to rebel against the author for making them stand around constantly instead of playing more important roles like being officers of the federal government Eventually however Dark is mentally cured through a civil discussion with Gibbon about his childhood He states his father didn t care about him due to being a pain in the ass to raise and Dan was often alone in his room to read His father also constantly beat up his wife and kid Just as he is about to be released from the hospital he has another hallucination where reality meets his novel fantasies the two thugs quickly drag his hospital bed throughout the building and attempt to kill him while he also imagines himself as the detective alongside other vaudeville women It ends with the fictional detective shooting the real author After the hallucination he leaves the hospital with his wife Cast EditRobert Downey Jr as Dan Dark David Dorfman as Young Dan Dark Robin Wright Penn as Nicola Nina Blonde Jeremy Northam as Mark Binney Katie Holmes as Nurse Mills Mel Gibson as Dr Gibbon Adrien Brody as First Hood Jon Polito as Second Hood Carla Gugino as Betty Dark Hooker Saul Rubinek as Skin Specialist Alfre Woodard as Chief of Staff Amy Aquino as Nurse Nozhki Eddie Jones as Moonglow Bartender Clyde Kusatsu as Visiting Japanese DoctorProduction EditPotter s screenplay had been circulating in Hollywood for many years as Potter was enthusiastic about a film version Robert Altman was at one time attached to direct with Dustin Hoffman in the lead but financing proved difficult and the production was shelved It was eventually discovered by an executive at Mel Gibson s production company Icon Productions who loved it and got Gibson on board to produce The screenplay had also been imagined as a horror film directed by genre veteran David Cronenberg and starring Al Pacino as the title character 4 Reception EditThe film scored a 39 Rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 108 critics with an average rating of 5 09 10 The website s critical consensus reads Delightful performance from Robert Downey Jr can t save The Singing Detective s transition from TV to the big screen 5 While some critics such as Roger Ebert liked the film others like Joe Baltake at the Sacramento Bee considered it an interesting failure 6 Soundtrack EditThe soundtrack to The Singing Detective was released on October 14 2003 It consisted of songs from the 1950s rather than the 1940s as in the original television series No TitleArtistLength1 In My Dreams Gene Vincent3 022 Just Walking in the Rain Johnnie Ray2 483 Mr Sandman The Chordettes2 244 It s All in the Game Tommy Edwards2 375 Poison Ivy The Coasters2 426 Important Words Gene Vincent2 227 Harlem Nocturne The Viscounts2 228 At the Hop Danny amp the Juniors2 299 Woman Love Gene Vincent2 3310 When The Kalin Twins2 2611 Flip Flop and Fly Big Joe Turner2 4712 Three Steps to Heaven Eddie Cochran2 2213 It s Only Make Believe Conway Twitty2 1414 In My Dreams Robert Downey Jr 4 12Total length 37 20 7 References Edit THE SINGING DETECTIVE 15 British Board of Film Classification October 2 2003 Retrieved June 14 2012 The Singing Detective 2003 Box office business Internet Movie Database Retrieved June 14 2012 The Singing Detective 2003 Box Office Mojo Retrieved June 14 2012 The Singing Detective November 14 2003 via IMDb The Singing Detective Rotten Tomatoes The Singing Detective Rotten Tomatoes The Singing Detective Soundtrack AllMusic Retrieved February 27 2014External links EditThe Singing Detective at IMDb The Singing Detective at Box Office Mojo The Singing Detective at Rotten Tomatoes The Singing Detective at Metacritic nbsp Senses of Cinema review Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Singing Detective film amp oldid 1163853275, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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