Brian De Palma

The Black Dahlia Brian De Palma

Based on true events, Brian De Palma's throwback noir thriller based on James Ellroy's classic book chronicles the case that shook 1940s Los Angeles to its core.

The lives of two Los Angeles policemen are thrown into chaos after the mysterious and brutal murder of a woman named Elizabeth Short captivates the city and leads them down a rabbit hole of conspiracy and corruption.

REVIEWS:

• Brian De Palma doesn't just know how to make a camera move; he can seduce it to do a sinuous dance. So, The Black Dahlia looks and flows great, dripping with the 1940s crime-thriller atmosphere that James Ellroy described in his 1987 novel. Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
• Hartnett and co-star Scarlett Johansson--that most fatale of current filmic femmes--are naturals for this kind of noir-hued material, but the pairing of Ellroy and De Palma proves a marriage made in hardboiled heaven. Nathan Rabin, A.V. Club
• The film is more than a little in love with the corruption it finds under the floorboards -- and that, of course, is perfectly dandy. I wouldn't trust a film noir that wasn't enthralled by decadence. Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly