I did watch it again and decided that was terrific, and not just because Robert Downey Junior is one of my favorite actors.
RD Jr. acts as Dan Dark, a pulp fiction writer who has been badly physically burned, and while in the hospital recovering, flashes back to episodes in his past fiction writing, which take place in the 1950's and uses music from the 1950's as a lead into memory.
As many writers can testify their real life experiences can also be used in or inspire fiction. So Dan Dark's memories cross into his real life as well. The confusion he experiences and which I experienced watching the film, which took artful editing and masterful writing (Screenplay by Dennis Potter) works, and some of the brutality is softer because the viewer knows these are fictive characters.
You know I won't ruin it by telling you the story, but if you haven't ever watched THE SINGING DETECTIVE, watch it - at least twice.
C 2013 Christine Trzyna All Rights Reserved
