Monday, June 27, 2005

Time to hit the road to creepy pot-boiler land

Did you know that Scarlett Jo and Josh Hartnett are going to be in the movie version of the James Ellroy novel The Black Dahlia? Dude, I didn't even know they were adapting this. Anyway, I read the book about five years ago, got Devon to read it too, since she has a soft spot for film noir, and noir is definitely Ellroy's forte. And it gave her nightmares. It's really quite dark.

Black Dahlia is Ellroy's fictional account of a true Hollywood mystery. A young actress was found murdered and horribly mutilated in a vacant lot in 1947. The murder is unsolved to this day, although there are all sorts of theories and books purporting to be the definitive account. Ellroy's theory is equally fantastical, but he never claims it's anything other than fiction. Really, aside from the mystery, the novel is about how the murder investigation leads the main character, an LA cop, down a path to madness and back out the other side. I'd be shocked if they maintained the storyline from the book - the protaganist does some effed up stuff and it's just very brutal at points.

Anyway, I like Scarlett for the role of the girlfriend in this movie - I bet she'll look great in 1940s garb. I'm on the fence about Hartnett, but after seeing his short but interesting turn in the noir Sin City, he might do well. Done well, an Ellroy novel can win Oscars (see LA Confidential) so maybe this will be a boon to the oh-so-deserving Scarlett.

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