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The Black Dahlia
Directed by
Brian De Palma
R
2006
2h 1m
Drama
,
Crime
,
and more
5.6
32%
27%
Add to Watchlist
Two policemen see their personal and professional lives fall apart in the wake of the "Black Dahlia" Elizabeth Short murder investigation.
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Where to Watch The Black Dahlia
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Amazon Video
Buy $4.99
Rent $2.89
+4 more
Cast of The Black Dahlia
Josh Hartnett
Bucky Bleichert
Scarlett Johansson
Kay Lake
Aaron Eckhart
Lee Blanchard
Hilary Swank
Madeleine Linscott
Mia Kirshner
Elizabeth Short
Mike Starr
Det. Russ Millard
Fiona Shaw
Ramona Linscott
Patrick Fischler
Deputy DA Ellis Loew
James Otis
Dolph Bleichert
John Kavanagh
Emmett Linscott
Troy Evans
Chief Ted Green
Anthony Russell
Morrie Friedman
Pepe Serna
Tomas Dos Santos
Angus MacInnes
Capt. John Tierney
Rachel Miner
Martha Linscott
Victor McGuire
Sgt. Bill Koenig
Gregg Henry
Pete Lukins
Jemima Rooper
Lorna Mertz
Rose McGowan
Sheryl Saddon
Dan Ponce
Mp
Graham Norris
Cop
Mike O'Connell
Shore Patrol
Michael P. Flannigan
Desk Officer
John Solari
Baxter Fitch
Stephanie L. Moore
Baxter Fitch's Girlfriend
Noel Arthur
Gunman #1
Todd Thomas
Gunman #2
Steve Eastin
Detective
Ian McNeice
Coroner
Claudia Katz Minnick
Frolic Bartender
Mia Frye
Laverne Bartender
Richard Brake
Bobby DeWitt
William Finley
George Tilden
Joost Scholte
Madeleine's GI
Terrell J. Ramsey
Dealer
Teo
Friedman's Tough Guy #1
Kiril Efremov
Friedman's Tough Guy #2
Petar Milchev
Perp
Désirée Cyganek
Lesbian Bar Dancer (uncredited)
Brian De Palma
Elizabeth's Screen Test Director (voice) (uncredited)
Kevin Dunn
Elizabeth Short's Father (uncredited)
K.D. Lang
Lesbian Bar Singer (uncredited)
David Raibon
Man (uncredited)
The Black Dahlia Ratings & Reviews
AV Club
Nathan Rabin
The pairing of Ellroy and De Palma proves a marriage made in hardboiled heaven.
Seattle Times
Jeff Shannon
Despite some weaknesses, The Black Dahlia remains curiously fascinating.
USA Today
Claudia Puig
What it accomplishes with its stunning cinematography and set design is undercut by a lack of coherence.
MovieFreak.com
Sara Michelle Fetters
The director is more interested in seeing how many outrageously dazzling tricks he can pull off with his camera than he is in constructing a coherent or plausible storyline.
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
Forty-five minutes in, I was already glancing at my watch and wondering why the only lively actress in this film was playing the dead girl. Go figure.
Lessons of Darkness
Nick Schager
Nails the tale's particulars but not its soul.
UGO
Brian Tallerico
You have to wonder just how vibrant the film would have been during the Reagan or Clinton administration, when De Palma was in his prime.
Reverse Shot
Keith Uhlich
Ghost World: Keith Uhlich on The Black Dahlia for Reverse Shot's Brian de Palma symposium.
The New Yorker
David Denby
The picture is a kind of fattened goose that's been stuffed with goose-liver pâté. It's overrich and fundamentally unsatisfying.
Observer
Andrew Sarris
Mr. De Palma and his collaborators have been unable to translate Mr. Ellroy's depth of feeling into cinematic equivalents.
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
There are moments when The Black Dahlia projects a spectral world, but its ghosts in broad daylight are elusive at best.
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
The Black Dahlia feels wobbly and uncertain.
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
Despite genius-level contributions from cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and art director Dante Ferretti, the handsome film is almost abusively murky, trafficking in difficult-to-follow plot manipulations, arbitrary twists and mumbled dialogue.
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
In The Black Dahlia, narrative strands tangle and wither, and minor characters clutter the plot.
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
With the exception of Aaron Eckhart, De Palma's actors can't live up to the period or the atmosphere.
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
Josh Friedman's screenplay doesn't so much distill the flavor of James Ellroy's hard-boiled writing as serve up indigestible chunks of verbiage.
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
De Palma throws everything at the screen, but almost nothing sticks.
New York Times
Manohla Dargis
Brian De Palma drains the life out of James Ellroy's take on the spectacularly cruel 1947 murder of a young Los Angeles woman known as the Black Dahlia.
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Visually dazzling but ultimately disappointing.
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
The convoluted plot would be exhausting even if it were believable. It isn't.
Watch The Black Dahlia Videos
The Black Dahlia
The Black Dahlia
Trailer
Black Dahlia: Featuurette
Black Dahlia: Featuurette
Behind the Scenes
The Black Dahlia Scene: Bucky Stops To See Kay
The Black Dahlia Scene: Bucky Stops To See Kay
Scene
The Black Dahlia Scene: Lee Introduces Bucky To Kay
The Black Dahlia Scene: Lee Introduces Bucky To Kay
Scene
The Black Dahlia Scene: Bucky Arrives At Madeline's House
The Black Dahlia Scene: Bucky Arrives At Madeline's House
Scene
The Black Dahlia Scene: Bucky Asks Madeline About Elizabeth Short
The Black Dahlia Scene: Bucky Asks Madeline About Elizabeth Short
Scene
The Black Dahlia Scene: Elizabeth Short Plays Sad In A Screen Test
The Black Dahlia Scene: Elizabeth Short Plays Sad In A Screen Test
Scene
The Black Dahlia Scene: Kay Confronts Bucky In Front Of Madeline's House
The Black Dahlia Scene: Kay Confronts Bucky In Front Of Madeline's House
Scene
The Black Dahlia Scene: Bucky Questions An Aquaintance Of Elizabeth Short
The Black Dahlia Scene: Bucky Questions An Aquaintance Of Elizabeth Short
Scene
The Black Dahlia Scene: Lee Tells Bucky Why He Wants To Investigate Dahlia
The Black Dahlia Scene: Lee Tells Bucky Why He Wants To Investigate Dahlia
Scene
The Black Dahlia Scene: Madeline Tells Bucky About Sleeping With Elizabeth Short
The Black Dahlia Scene: Madeline Tells Bucky About Sleeping With Elizabeth Short
Scene
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