DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS (1995)

DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS (R) Carl Franklin's adaptation of Walter Mosley's mystery novel is respectful with a capital R. It's also nice with a capital N -- the kind of earnest production that reflects a lot of time spent in archives researching how the dresses, shops, and nightclubs looked in 1948 on Los Angeles' Central Avenue, then the pulsing heart of the city's black community. Denzel Washington is Ezekiel ''Easy'' Rawlins, the amateur sleuth who steps into corruption and danger, murder and blackmail. Jennifer Beals is the title character, a slinky heap of trouble called Daphne Monet. Unfortunately, Franklin shows us this landscape as if we're on a bus ride through an unfamiliar part of town. He gets no particular assist from Washington, who for now may have played one guy-with-guts-of-fire-beneath-that-quiet-facade too many. C

You Might Also Like

• Movie Review Devil In A Blue Dress (1995) | Lisa Schwarzbaum
• Awards ''Debaters,'' ''Grey's'' win at Image Awards (Dec 25, 2007)
• The Q&A Denzel Washington's EW Q&A | Allyssa Lee
• News Summary Ricky Martin will host an AIDS awareness program for MTV | Sandra P. Angulo
• News Summary Madonna will make her London stage debut in May | Gary Susman
• The Scene Seven days in entertainment (May 02, 2008)