The Singing Detective (film)
| The Singing Detective | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Keith Gordon |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by | Dennis Potter |
| Based on |
The Singing Detective by Dennis Potter |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Tom Richmond |
| Edited by | Jeff Wishengrad |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Paramount Classics |
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Release date
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Running time
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109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $8 million |
| Box office | $337,174 |
The Singing Detective is a 2003 American musical crime comedy film directed by Keith Gordon and loosely based on the BBC serial of the same name, a work by British writer Dennis Potter. It stars Robert Downey, Jr. and features a supporting cast that includes Katie Holmes, Adrien Brody, Robin Wright Penn, and Mel Gibson, as well as a number of songs from the 1950s.
Suffering from the skin disease psoriasis and crippling psoriatic arthritis, detective novelist Dan Dark is in such pain in a hospital that he begins to delve into fantasy, resulting in several storylines told simultaneously:
Potter's screenplay had been circulating in Hollywood for many years as Potter was enthusiastic about a film version. Robert Altman was at one time attached to direct with Dustin Hoffman in the lead, but financing proved difficult and the production was shelved. It was eventually discovered by an executive at Mel Gibson's production company Icon Productions, who loved it and got Gibson on board to produce. The screenplay had also been imagined as a horror film directed by genre veteran David Cronenberg and starring Al Pacino as the title character.
The film scored a 39% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus being 'Delightful performance from Robert Downey Jr. can't save The Singing Detective's transition from TV to the big screen'. While some critics, such as Roger Ebert, liked the film, others, like Joe Baltake at the Sacramento Bee, considered it an "interesting failure".
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