“The Black Dahlia,” the new movie directed by Brian De Palma, was originally based on the James Ellroy novel. It was 1947in Hollywood, and boxers-turned-cops Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) and Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) are assigned a murder investigation. The victm, struggling young actress Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner), is killed in a most gruesome way. Based on a real murder, Short’s killer, who was never found, cuts her mouth open from ear to ear and disembodies herself. There are many subplots in this movie.

Since the film was based in the 1940s, Hartnett, who narrates the whole movie, seems to fit the role as a scruffy cop. His character was the least confusing but his narrating was terrible. His voice was so low and raspy that you lose most of the plot line, leaving you in the dark about the whole film. His characer’s love nterest switches frm Kay to Madeleine Linscott(Hilary Swank). Johansson gives a boring performance. Her character was nothing more than a pretty face in the movie. Eckhart played a wonderful pill-popping cop obsessed with the murder case of Short. As for Swank, her performance was mediocre. Her accent was excellent, but it made me think, why did her character need one in the first place?

Overall, “The Black Dahlia” was confusing and still doesn’t make much sense to me. However, what did make it a good film was the story of the murder of Short. The real story is lost in Hartnett’s narration. To really end all the confusion, I have to read the Ellroy novel.

3 out of 5 stars.