Criterion Must-Watch: ‘Devil in a Blue Dress’

For leading men, the best films view them as flawed heroes. The camera may love them, but their true beauty is in their fallacy. The audience is taken on a journey through their boldness, bravery, clumsiness, and deftness. At the height of attractiveness down to the depths of emotional strife, no other actor in the ‘90s embodied this more than Denzel Washington in Carl Franklin’s Devil in a Blue Dress. Adapted from Walter Mosley’s detective mystery novel of the same name, Washington is both smooth and always a step behind, and exudes supreme confidence while being in over his head in his portrayal of Easy Rawlins.

In Devil in a Blue Dress, a neo-noir thriller set in 1948, Easy is a World War II veteran living in Los Angeles. He has recently been fired from his labor job under suspicious circumstances and is in desperate need of work. He is approached by the mysterious DeWitt Albright (Tom Sizemore; Heat) with a job to track missing woman Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals; Flashdance). In this world, when you step out of your door, you are already in trouble, and the only question is will you stay on top of that trouble or not? During his search for Daphne, he uncovers a deeper mystery that involves LA politicians and corrupt cops who all threaten Easy’s life.

The film is about racial and identity politics, something that most (if not all) classic noir films avoid. Most noirs are about hardboiled white men who drink too much, sleep too little, and fall for the wrong dame; that’s not the story of Devil in a Blue Dress. While Easy is tested like those prior men, his journey is different because he is a Black man. In the late ‘40s, against the mechanisms of racism, segregation, and poverty, Easy cannot move like Bogart in The Maltese Falcon or Robert Mitchum in Out of the Past, so he has to be more cunning than the rest because his presence is a deterrent for progress. An incredible bit of inner monologue from Easy while driving with Daphne is when he says: “Nervous? Here I was in the middle of the night in a white neighborhood with a white woman in my car. Nah, I wasn’t nervous; I was stupid.” It’s equal parts truth and hilarity, the line that Black men balance when daring to supposedly race mix. If the cops pull them over, he may not live to see tomorrow, let alone solve the case.

Even though it is easy to heap praise upon Washington, the standout performance is from Don Cheadle as Mouse, Easy’s old friend from Houston. In 1995, Cheadle was not a Hollywood veteran, nor Captain Planet, nor an EGOT nominee; he was an actor grinding out a living. His biggest role may have been his appearance as Ice Tray on The Fresh Prince in 1990. But as Mouse, Cheadle gives a comically sinister performance that impresses and scares. Mouse acts as a mirror to Easy if Easy made the wrong choices in life. Easy is cautious and thoughtful about what the next move should be, while Mouse is brazen and gung-ho. In a fit of dark comedy, Mouse tells Easy, “If you ain’t want him killed, why’d you leave him with me?” Cheadle enters like a tornado and leaves as such.

From an aesthetic perspective, the look of Devil in a Blue Dress is fantastic. Beyond Washington running around half the film in a tight white tank top, the photography and set design mark true craftsmanship and touch. Through Franklin’s direction, Tak Fujimoto, cinematographer for Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia, creates a warm richness through muted earth tones (keep an eye out for the blue), transporting us into a vibrant Central Avenue, which was a focal point of blues and jazz for LA Black folks after the First World War. Coupled with the standout score and music choices (my favorite being “Chica Boo” by Lloyd Glenn), the audience feels immersed in the era while engrossed by the incredible performances.

The Devil in a Blue Dress 4K from Criterion is stunning. The film’s restoration was approved by Franklin and includes an audio commentary track from Franklin, and a conversation between him and Cheadle. If you ever wanted to take a risk of blindly purchasing a 4K or Blu-ray without having seen the movie, this would be the one to take a gamble on. If and when you love Devil in a Blue Dress, give Franklin’s One False Move a watch next.