The Singing Detective R

When it comes to murder, seduction and betrayal he wrote the book. Now he's living it!
16K ratings
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Format:  DVD
item number:  64FDE
on most orders of $75+
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DVD Details

  • Rated: R
  • Run Time: 1 hours, 49 minutes
  • Video: Color
  • Encoding: Region 1 (USA & Canada)
  • Released: August 25, 2015
  • Originally Released: 2015
  • Label: Olive Films

Performers, Cast and Crew:

Starring , , , , , &
Performer: , , , , , , &
Directed by
Edited by
Screenwriting by
Screenplay by
Produced by , &
Director of Photography:
Executive Production by

Entertainment Reviews:

Rotten39%

TOMATOMETER
Total Count: 108

Spilled40%

AUDIENCE SCORE
User Ratings: 7,637
Rating: 2/4 -- The Singing Detective has to settle for a hung jury. Full Review
Detroit Free Press
Nov 14, 2003
...Downey fans may enjoy it because DETECTIVE gives the actor one of his best showcase roles since CHAPLIN...
USA Today
Oct 24, 2003
Rating: 3/4 -- When I saw it at Sundance, my attention was divided because I was trying to process the meaning of the jagged structure. Seeing it again a week ago, knowing what to expect, I found it a more moving experience. Full Review
Chicago Sun-Times
Nov 14, 2003
Rating: D -- The concept is clever, but the film's parts don't fit well and the main character is one of the least likable you'll find.
Reno Gazette-Journal
Apr 9, 2004
Rating: 2/5 -- Although the miniseries spent time developing the strands of the interwoven stories, the movie flits from idea to idea and plays like a chaotic, failed experiment.
Arizona Republic
Nov 13, 2003
Rating: B -- It stands completely on Downey's tragi-comic performance, although the rest of the cast -- particularly Penn and Gibson -- do good work as well.
Detroit News
Nov 14, 2003
Rating: C -- The film's colorful song-and-dance set pieces rely on lip-synced '50s songs that are the weakest link in a bumbling but gregarious movie. Full Review
ColeSmithey.com
May 9, 2009

Product Description:

Director Keith Gordon (MOTHER NIGHT, WAKING THE DEAD) makes another brave adaptation with THE SINGING DETECTIVE. Based on Dennis Potter's stunningly brilliant 1986 BBC mini-series of the same name, Gordon's version finds the film's troubled hero transplanted to 1950s America, not post-WWII London. Dan Dark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a pulp novelist in the thralls of a crippling skin disease that has rendered him delusional and immobile. Bitter, angry, and at the end of his rope, Dan manages to offend everyone he encounters. As he lies in bed, scenes from his novel swim into his mind, blurring with experiences from his own childhood. In the present, he remains paranoid that his ex-wife Nicola (Robin Wright Penn) is out to steal a script he wrote. Adding to his disgust are forced visits with an uptight psychotherapist, Dr. Gibbon (Mel Gibson), who is determined to make a breakthrough with his hateful patient. Along the way, Dan envisions several musical sequences, which appear out of nowhere and add glorious confusion to his fevered state. Gordon, working from a script that Potter himself wrote before his death, delivers an imaginary, vibrant film that is aided greatly by Robert Downey Jr.'s ferocious performance.

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Product Info

  • UPC: 887090105101
  • Shipping Weight: 0.25/lbs (approx)
  • International Shipping: 1 item

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