The Singing Detective 2003

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: The Singing Detective has to settle for a hung jury. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: ... it is just a little bit too much of a disjointed mess. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: If the movie doesn't really work, it's because it's a hard piece to bring off, an extremely high mark to hit. Still, enough magic is left, especially in Downey's performance, to shock and beguile us. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: The movie lurches when it should glide, shouts when it should whisper and mumbles when it should sing. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It just doesn't work; not as an adaptation of the acclaimed 1980s British television series, nor as a stand-alone movie. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: True, Gordon is working from Potter's own adapted script, but it's hard to shake the sense that the writer may simply have been trolling for a Hollywood paycheck. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: For all the amazing lengths Downey and Gibson go to, the two actors seem to exist in a vacuum, for this stiff film is virtually devoid of a sense of texture, flow or wit. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: Everything works in the beginning, in fact, but the movie spins out of control toward the end. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: The new Singing Detective mirrors Potter's growth as well as his originality, and moving from television to silver screen feels like a rewarding round trip. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Robert Downey Jr. is great in a role no one less magnetically reckless would dare approach. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: The Singing Detective gives you the feeling that someone took a handful of disparate films, chucked them into a blender and poured the results onto the screen. Read more

Ron Stringer, L.A. Weekly: Potter's script pares down to virtual nothing the very narrative threads that allowed us, in the full-length version, to identify with his prickly protagonist. Read more

Bob Campbell, Newark Star-Ledger: Virtuoso work by Robert Downey Jr. and an unrecognizable Mel Gibson (who also produced) can't keep The Singing Detective from degenerating into sheer noise. Read more

Jami Bernard, New York Daily News: The casting misfires. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A fine example of entertainment -- an eclectic mix of drama, film noir, and comedy, with plenty of fantasy musical numbers thrown in for good measure. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: When I saw it at Sundance, my attention was divided because I was trying to process the meaning of the jagged structure. Seeing it again a week ago, knowing what to expect, I found it a more moving experience. Read more

Charles Taylor, Salon.com: Fans of the classic Dennis Potter BBC miniseries: Stay far, far away from this pale, Americanized imitation. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The movie makes its point and still has another hour to go. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Any sober viewers trying to follow this mishmash mystery are going to wish they'd brought along a cache of aspirin. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Without the breathing spaces allowed by the long-form, gone are the slow and developing rhythms of the original, its depth of characterization, and its refusal to sentimentalize a really vicious protagonist. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: While the general contours of Potter's original story are intact, they've lost all their transitional graces. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: Read more

Leslie Camhi, Village Voice: The problems come in the shadow world, where everything's a jumble, where Dark's compositional strategy ('all clues and no solutions') eventually becomes wearing, and Gordon's direction can't hold it all together. Read more