Rent Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
3.5 of 5 from 146 ratings
1h 37min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
It's 1948 and Los Angeles is booming, but Easy Rawlins (Denzel Washington) has seen better days. He has just been fired and his house payments are due, so when DeWitt Albright (Tom Sizemore) offers him a seemingly harmless job he jumps at the chance. All he has to do is track down the elusive Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), a mysterious beauty known to keep company on the wrong side of town. Soon he finds himself implicated in two murders and is forced to call upon an old friend, Mouse (Don Cheadle), who is all too familiar with the violent world Easy has landed himself in. Slowly drawn deeper and deeper into a web of blackmail, dirty cops and even dirtier politicians, the ways out for Easy become harder and harder to find... - Actors:
- Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals, Don Cheadle, Maury Chaykin, Terry Kinney, Mel Winkler, Albert Hall, Lisa Nicole Carson, Jernard Burks, David Fonteno, John Roselius, Beau Starr, Steven Randazzo, Scott Lincoln, L. Scott Caldwell, Barry Shabaka Henley, Nick Corello, Kenny Endoso, Joseph Latimore
- Directors:
- Carl Franklin
- Producers:
- Jesse Beaton, Gary Goetzman
- Writers:
- Walter Mosley, Carl Franklin
- Studio:
- Columbia Tristar
- Genres:
- Drama, Thrillers
- Collections:
- Action & Adventure, Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Denzel Washington, Top Film and TV Detectives: Guide to Screen Sleuth
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 14/12/2020
- Run Time:
- 102 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby Digital 5.1, English LPCM Stereo
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Audio commentary with writer and director Carl Franklin (1999)
- Dancing with the Devil (2018, 23 mins): archival interview with Franklin, conducted by the Film Noir Foundation's Eddie Muller at a screening of 'Devil in a Blue Dress'
- Don Cheadle Screen Test (1994, 15 mins): videotape footage of the actor auditioning for the role of Mouse, with introduction by Franklin
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
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Reviews (1) of Devil in a Blue Dress
Solid neo-Noir - Devil in a Blue Dress review by griggs
Devil in a Blue Dress is a solid, well-crafted genre piece that sidesteps the pitfalls of neo-noir imitation, offering a fresh yet familiar spin on the classic formula. Carl Franklin’s direction is refreshingly straightforward, letting 1940s Los Angeles take centre stage with its smoky jazz clubs and sun-dappled streets steeped in corruption. The story unfolds with an assured rhythm, layering its themes of race and class with subtlety beneath the surface.
Denzel Washington brings an understated warmth to Easy Rawlins, a man reluctantly drawn into detective work by necessity rather than choice. Don Cheadle injects a welcome jolt of energy as the unpredictable Mouse, stealing scenes with ease.
The noir staples—a missing woman, a dangerous femme fatale, and tangled deception—are all here but feel slightly reimagined. The film doesn’t aim to reinvent the wheel, but its mix of taut mystery and thoughtful period insight hits the mark.
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