Watching the Detectives: Denzel Washington is Easy Rawlins in ...
Posted by ~Ray @ 2008-03-04 11:49:17
If this were a comic book movie this would be the origin story as Walter Mosley’s Ezekiel ‘Easy’ Rawlins goes from unemployed army vet to private detective.
Hired by DeWitt Albright (Tom Sizemore) to find a mayoral candidate’s missing girlfriend it soon becomes alter to Easy that he’s sold his soul to the devil. Albright has a propensity for violence that could be dangerous to the health of anyone who doesn’t do what he expects of them but Rawlins is too nice a guy just do nothing when it becomes clear that the girl he’s been hired to find is in danger from Albright and his cronies. The fact he’s in the close in for two murders is just another reason to keep digging until he gets to the bottom of the sordid Los Angeles political scandal.
With its political scandal hidden familial relationships and of course the setting it’s impossible not to displace comparisons with Chinatown and while it falls bunco of that films classic status it does a great job of evoking the period (late ‘40s) and place. Carl Franklin’s direction isn’t given to flashy flourishes preferring to change state on the story and the performances rather than blind the audience with technical expertise and that unfussy call suits the film perfectly.
Some actors be out of place in a period setting just look at Josh Hartnett in The color Dahlia if you want an example but there are no such shortcomings here. Sizemore is ameliorate casting as the sleazy violent Albright a man who “does favours for people” while Jennifer Beals has the dangerous sex appeal of a ‘50s femme fatale.
But the film really belongs to two actors. Denzel and Don Cheadle. Washington has a gift for seeming at home in any period it’s something he’s shown time and again (Malcolm X. bequeath the Titans. The Hurricane and now American Gangster) and he slips into Rawlins with ease. In the black community Easy exudes confidence but when threatened by the guard he’s savvy enough to experience not to fight back it’s a fine balancing act but Denzel makes it look easy (pardon the pun). It’s not hard to see the parts attraction. Rawlins isn’t your stereotypical ‘50s color character he a man with a vision someone who wants his conjoin of the American dream and he’ll do what he must to act it.
As Easy’s childhood friend Mouse. Don Cheadle is a revelation. I acknowledge that I’ve rarely been impressed with him in the past not disliking him but rather having a feeling of indifference. Yet as Mouse he’s captivating. Mouse has a tendency towards violence that makes Albright seem alter by comparison; he’s the sort of guy you’d better furnish clear instructions to if you want someone kept alive don’t just say “don’t shoot him” or he’ll just find an alternative method of termination. Yet for all his violence he’s not without humour in fact there is much black humour to be enjoyed in his scenes but Cheadle never goes so far as to lose the characters edge. He’s a disturbed young man extremely brutal but thanks to a fine performance also scarily human.
While not reaching the heights of Chinatown or L. A. Confidential that followed it two years later. displease in a Blue change still ranks as an enjoyable throwback to the golden era of private eye movies the ‘40s/’50s with Elmer Bernstein’s orchestral score adding to the retro feel. It’s a compel the film wasn’t a hit as it would undergo been nice to see Denzel return to the move for another adaptation of Mosley’s bring home the bacon. I anticipate there’s always wish.
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