THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9509300042
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
STYLE AND ATMOSPHERE have a great deal to do with the success of ``Devil in a Blue Dress,'' Carl Franklin's adaptation of Walter Mosley's detective yarn about a reluctant hero named Easy Rawlins.
The setting, which has been captured in great detail, is the South Central section of Los Angeles in 1948 - a bustling black community.
Movies have almost totally ignored African Americans of the 1940s. The current directors seem more intent upon repeating over and over again negative modern 'hood stories. ``Devil in a Blue Dress'' effectively and entertainingly re-creates a vibrant world of smoke-filled bars, low-down jazz and segregation.
``Devil'' is not all atmosphere. There is substance, too. Denzel Washington, in an understated performance to add to his string of professional-class roles, comes down to earth enough to suggest that Easy is a man who would prefer to be left alone. At the same time, in Washington's most deft balancing act, he also suggests nobility.
Easy is a World War II veteran who comes to Los Angeles from Houston to take a job in an aircraft factory. He's proud of the little house he buys with a G.I. loan. When he loses the job, though, things look bleak.
He takes the $100 offered by a seedy detective who asks him to search for a white woman named Daphne Monet, who has disappeared into the lowlife world. Daphne is the property of a rich man who knows her rebellious knack for seeking adventure on the wrong side of the tracks.
Before long there are two dead bodies and the police are intent upon pinning both on Easy.
Easy is an authentic movie hero who is serious about doing the right thing - but only because he's forced into it. He lacks the cynicism of today's smarty heroes who make wisecracks to let us know they don't really care.
With so many recent movies playing violence as if it were cartoonish and of no consequence, it's refreshing to find that a knife or a gun are true threats in this movie.
``Devil'' is not in the class of the classic ``Chinatown,'' but it reminds us of that film at every turn. The complicated case throws in politics, the mob, and a shady sexual sideline. It's more interesting than outright absorbing because there never is that final revelation that one expects from such mysteries. The trip is more interesting than the destination.
Admirers of the book won't like the cop-out ending or the re-write in which Easy never gets romantically involved with the title character. Jennifer Beals (making a comeback after her long-ago initial fame in ``Flashdance'') isn't much of a devil. In fact, she's bland, leading us to wish that Daphne Monet had remained a mystery. Beals and Washington spark no chemistry and seem strangely distant when they finally meet.
Don Cheadle steals his scenes as a quick-triggered gunman named Mouse. He's very funny, primarily because he plays the role straight-faced. Tom Sizemore is convincingly dangerous as the guy who employs Easy to search for that devil in a blue dress.
Carl Franklin scored, at least with the critics, with ``One False Move,'' an involving little 1992 movie. Here, with a much bigger budget, he proves he can do it again. He adds winning little details, like a neighbor who steals people's trees from their yards. Franklin is a fine storyteller, something we need so much in movies nowadays.
It's a particular pleasure, too, to again hear a fully orchestrated score from master movie composer Elmer Bernstein. It makes you yearn for the time when studios regularly employed a full symphony orchestra to score movies, rather than pasting a few records together.
``Devil in a Blue Dress'' is a throwback to ``The Big Sleep'' and ``The Maltese Falcon.'' It's not as good as any of the classics, ``Devil'' is a well-made mystery that disappoints only in its finale. The trip is so entertaining that you will willingly excuse it that lapse. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
TRISTAR PICTURES
Easy Rawlins (Denzel Washington) confronts Daphne Monet (Jennifer
Beals) in the mystery tale ``Devil in a Blue Dress.''
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Devil in a Blue Dress''
Cast: Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals, Don
Cheadle
Director and writer: Carl Franklin (based on the book by Walter
Mosley)
MPAA rating: R (language, violence, sexuality)
Mal's rating: Three 1/2 stars
Locations: Chesapeake Square, Greenbrier in Chesapeake; Main
Gate, Military Circle in Norfolk; Kemps River Crossing, Lynnhaven,
Pembroke, Surf-N-Sand in Virginia Beach
by CNB