Wick's Review

Summary - Great 4.0

Devil In A Blue Dress is a twofer: a damn good neo-noir movie and an excellent 1940s L.A. period piece, from an African-American POV. Throw in a prime Denzel Washington performance and you’ve got a great movie, one that stands the test of time. Pity they never made a sequel.

Taken from Walter Mosley’s first Easy Rawlins novel, Devil In A Blue Dress plays like a Watts-based Chinatown, with Washington in the Nicholson role as a reluctant P.I. being played for a pawn by L.A.’s rich and powerful. The twist is that institutional racism was rampant 70 years ago, so Easy Rawlins couldn’t snoop around the posh areas of La La Land without exposing himself to severe danger.

This 1995 movie also features Don Cheadle’s star-making performance, as if it needed more to recommend it. It doesn’t, especially for Denzel fans, noir fans and those interested in the African-American experience.

Acting - Great 4.0

Denzel Washington can count Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins as one of his signature roles, albeit a lesser one given the magnitude of his oeuvre. He’s ideal playing a man nicknamed Easy, easily essaying his signature combination of laconic grace and level-headed intelligence.

Supporters

• Don Cheadle doesn’t appear until halfway in, but his “Mouse” is a scarily upbeat killer. This was Cheadle’s breakout performance, leading to major career success in the two decades since.
• Tom Sizemore as a fancy hood.
• Jennifer Beals as the mysterious woman in a blue dress. Beals had a Forties look about her that was ideal for the role.
• Maury Chaykin as a creepy politician
• Mel Winkler as a hapless bar owner
• Lisa Nicole Carson as a sexy woman with one too many secrets

Film - Great 4.0

Carl Franklin became a TV director over the past decade. Pity, since Devil In A Blue Dress proves he’s a plenty capable movie director. As a writer too, having adapted Walter Mosley’s novel into the screenplay.

Edge - Sordid 2.8

Super sexy early on, Devil In A Blue Dress turns brutal shortly thereafter.

Reality - Glib 1.3

Never mind the mild circumstantial reality liberties. Devil In A Blue Dress presents a plausible lens into Forties institutional racism in Los Angeles, as well as the lovely neighborhood of Watts. Watts, lovely? Hell yes, at least as shown in the movie.

My how times have changed, both in the demise of institutional racism and the travails of Watts.

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