Devil in a Blue Dress

The year is 1948, the place is Los Angeles, and Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins (Denzel Washington) is a black man who has just lost his job and is in dire need of money. So, despite having no experience as a private eye, Easy accepts an assignment from a seedy man (Tom Sizemore) to find the missing Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), the mistress of a powerful mayoral candidate. As Rawlins conducts his search, he unexpectedly becomes drawn into a complex racially-charged web of intrigue involving political machinations, double-crossings, blackmail, and mysterious deaths. With the aid of his trigger-happy friend Mouse (Don Cheadle), Easy must rely on his instincts and neophyte detective skills, not only to solve the case, but also to save his life. African-American director Carl Franklin (ONE FALSE MOVE) brings Walter Mosley's crime series to life with this dense thriller, aided greatly by Tak Fujimoto's sun-soaked photography and an electric soundtrack reflecting the music of the times. As Easy Rawlins, an everyman who finds himself an unwilling pawn in a dangerous game of mystery and murder, Washington delivers an intense performance. It is Don Cheadle, however, who steals the show, giving his hot-tempered Mouse a comic humanity that is at once menacing, hysterical, and unforgettable.

Cast:

"...A potboiler overflowing with possibilities..." - Recommended -- Josh Rottenberg , (Premiere)

"...[A] whip-smart and sexy film....Denzel Washington is flat-out perfection..." -- Peter Travers , (Rolling Stone)

"An engrossingly atmospheric dip into the dark waters of postwar urban intrigue....Washington's performance is alert and subtle..." -- Todd McCarthy , (Variety)

"...A major accomplishment, a fluid, persuasive piece of movie-making graced with the considerable sophistication of Tak Fujimoto....This is a film in smooth control of its ways and means..." -- Kenneth Turan , (Los Angeles Times)

"...[Franklin] creates a rich atmospheric style, a mood; the characters do not stand on their own so much as inhabit places within a traditional frame....Washington's warmth at the center of it is like our own bemusement..." -- Roger Ebert , (Chicago Sun-Times)

"...Set in a beautifully evoked late-'40s LA, it features an outstanding performance from Denzel Washington..." -- Stephen Applebaum , (Total Film)

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