Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 30, 1995 TAG: 9510030016
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
More importantly for moviegoers, this is one of Denzel Washington's best roles. Seldom have an actor and a character been so well-matched. As Mosley's reluctant detective Easy Rawlings, Washington doesn't appear to be acting; it's like he's putting on a comfortable suit of clothes he's worn for years.
It's the summer of 1948 in Los Angeles. As the postwar aviation industry slows down, Army veteran Easy Rawlings loses his factory job. But Easy has a mortgage payment to meet on his tidy bungalow and he's not going to lose it. He's looking for work when a bartender introduces him to Albright (Tom Sizemore), a cagy white man who "does favors for friends."
He offers Easy $100 to help him find Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), the wayward wife of a politician. Rumor has it that she's living with a black lover. Easy says yes, and in the time-honored tradition of American mysteries, soon finds himself caught up in blackmail, murder and corruption, both official and sexual.
Easy is too decent a man to handle this dirty business, particularly after a couple of racist cops lean on him. That's when Mouse (Don Cheadle), his old friend from Texas, shows up. As Mosley's readers know, Mouse is a dangerous, unforgettable character. Whenever he's around, things happen quickly.
In adapting the story to the screen, Franklin streamlines the plot without losing the larger social consciousness of Mosley's novels. Easy and, to a lesser degree, Mouse are part of a migration of black people from the rural South to the urban West and North. Easy is a man who has fought for his country. He expects to be treated with some respect - and demands it - as he makes a place for himself in his community. That attempt to "fit in" is the central concern of Mosley's novels and the film.
Franklin and director of photography Tak Fujimoto lovingly re-create the late-'40s Central Avenue area. Using muted colors, carefully chosen locations and dozens of terrific cars, they give the film a slightly stylized but not overtly nostalgic look.
In both appearance and substance, "Devil in a Blue Dress" is set squarely in the "tough" detective tradition, from "The Big Sleep" to "Farewell, My Lovely" to "Chinatown." Because of that, the story offers few surprises to viewers familiar with the form. It lacks the freshness that Franklin brought to "One False Move."
Instead, the film has Denzel Washington making the most out of an excellent role. He gets able assistance from Cheadle, an accomplished character actor who was born to play Mouse; Jennifer Beals; and Maury Chaykin as an oily mayoral candidate who claims to be "the negro's friend." Together, they make "Devil in a Blue Dress" one of the best crime films of the year, and a longshot contender for a few Oscar nominations.
Devil in a Blue Dress
***
A TriStar release playing at the Valley View 6. 102 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, sexual material.
by CNB