The Singing Detective (2003) 6/10

Starring : Robert Downey Jr, Robin Wright Penn, Jeremy Northam, Katie Holmes, Carla Gugino, Adrien Brody, Mel Gibson
Director : Keith Gordon
Running Time : 104 mins

A writer named Dan Dark (Downey), suffering from psoriasis, lies in his hospital bed and imagines he is the main protagonist of his first novel, a detective investigating the murder of a prostitute). As his imagination runs away with him, he starts to confuse the lines between fantasy and reality, with his detective novel fantasy drifting into musical numbers as his disease starts to increasingly effect his mind.

There are some excellent make-up effects in this movie, specifically on Robert Downey Jr and Mel Gibson, but the effects do little to make the story more appealing. Where the original British series had the argument of being English and therefore quirky, this significantly shortened version suffers from being too greatly condensed, and focuses more on musical numbers than the actual detective story Downey finds himself relieving.

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