The Robert Downey Jr. Film Guide: The Singing Detective (2003)

A mystery writer hallucinates while recovering from a horribly disfiguring skin disease.

High. He appears in most scenes.

Dan Dark, a feverish mystery writer who fantasizes about being a nightclub singer and a private detective.

Starts out very grotesque, but gets better as the film goes on. Very cute at the end and in the fantasies.

In My Dreams during the credits, lip synchs to several songs during the film.

Robin Wright Penn is the wife by his side, while Katie Holmes and Carla Gugino appear in racy fantasies.

Mel Gibson, Jeremy Northam, Robin Wright Penn, Carla Gugino, Katie Holmes, Alfre Woodard, Adrien Brody

Alfre Woodard in Heart and Souls and Captain America: Civil War. Mel Gibson in Air America. Keith Gordon in Back to School. Katie Holmes in Wonder Boys. Adrien Brody in Natural Born Killers.

Mel came over to the pad and in addition to making me some kind of green avocado bioflavonoid shake, he said, “Yeah, man, I just got the rights to this. You want to have a look at it?” I was like, alright, I need something to do this weekend ... I’m thinking ‘Why’s he handing me this British tripe. This guy’s nuts, I mean he gives a good [spinal] adjustment, but besides that he’s a crackpot.’ ... It was less than an ideal time to be saying, “Let’s put Downey at the front of the list and ride a whole bunch of dough on the guy.” It’s been a while, actually. And it never entered his mind—[Mel Gibson’s] faith in me has really meant a lot ... I love working with Mel. He’s my buddy. His idea, his company, his show, his world ... We met with Keith [Gordon] early on and I just felt like he was qualified and hungry which is an unusual combination nowadays ... [My character is] just this miserable, syphilitic cretin ... They did stuff that was never done before with make-up effects, because I told them I’d flip out if they didn’t, and they believed me ... I was really worried about [the style] because when we started I was watching all these guys from the noir movies and they were so cool ... I think it’s what it’s supposed to be ... The good thing about The Singing Detective was that I didn’t have time to ponder it, or become precious about it. All of a sudden I had to go into this world. “You have three things. You have to be very still, very cool, and you have to be a man’s man. I was like, I have nothing to hold onto. I’ve done that tragic thing, the gifted comedy thing, you know, I’ve done a lot of different things, but this was all new territory ... I like doing hard stuff. I’m good at the high degree of difficulty, it’s the simple stuff that baffles me. I don’t know why, I just know that to be true since I started. I can do the hard stuff, and this is really hard ... I was a mess while making the movie. You’re kind of like Bobby Darin and nobody’s kind of like Bobby Darin because he was way, way out there, you know? But when I saw it, when we were sitting there watching it, you know, all of our bitching, lamenting and character assassination was really for nothing. It turned out alright ... Most of the time I was kind of in and out of awareness or consciousness.

This was his first feature film after he got out of jail and then had 2 more high-profile arrests. He was still considered a major risk. Mel Gibson, who had previously worked with him on Air America (and was not yet famous for producing The Passion or having his own run-ins with the law) personally paid the super high insurance premium so Robert Downey Jr could make this movie. Although Keith Gordon had worked with Robert Downey Jr before (they played college roommates in Back to School), he had always been interested in directing The Singing Detective and it was just a lucky break that he knew the actor who was eventually attached to the script.

Released in theaters 24 October 2003. On DVD in Region 1, 2, and 4.

Brazil: Crime de um Detetive (Crime of a Detective)
Denmark: Den Syngende Deketiv (The Singing Detective)
Portugal: O Detective Cantor (Detective Singer)
Spain: El Detective Cantante (The Singing Detective)

39% Fresh | 106 Reviews

Mick LaSalle, The San Francisco Chronicle: The human interaction throughout The Singing Detective is exceptionally rich and nuanced — no surprise when we remember that Keith Gordon directed the beautiful Waking the Dead. Unfortunately, there’s Potter’s screenplay to contend with, with its story that pretty much stands still most of the way.

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: There are only two reasons to see the film, and the main one is Robert Downey Jr. As a bitter, hallucinating pulp mystery writer afflicted with a horrific case of psoriasis (as Potter himself was), the beleaguered actor is working at full steam for the first time in years, and his despair and the film’s hospital setting reference Downey’s real-life demons in ways both compelling and creepy.

A.O. Scott, The New York Times: Though Mr. Downey’s twitchy intelligence shines through the grotesque makeup he wears for the hospital scenes, Dan ultimately seems more like a theory than a person. The unpacking of his psychic baggage is both too neat and too clumsy; a great deal is revealed, but the feeling of revelation is missing.

1. Good lessons about how not to make a big comeback.
2. Downey as an old-fashioned detective.

Though there are a few unexpected laughs, it’s kind of weird and occasionally unpleasant to watch. This is a Robert Downey Jr movie to put off until after you’ve gotten through the best pretentious ones and some of the fluff.