Robert Downey Jr.,
Robin Wright,
Mel Gibson,
Jeremy Northam,
Katie Holmes
... see more 
From director Keith Gordon (Mother Night, A Midnight Clear) comes this American feature adaptation of the 1986 BBC miniseries, The Singing Detective. Robert Downey Jr. returns to the big-screen for th... read more
DVD Release Date: March 23, 2004
Get It:
Stats: 374 reviews
Your Rating
Flixster Reviews (374)
-
January 7, 2010This could have been amazing, but it fell short of an interesting story. The cast was good, but didn't really get to show off their talent due to the script. Mel Gibson's psychotherapist character was by far the best part. If it would've just been an actual noir homage then it wo... read more
-
-
October 23, 2007Um...Robert Jr is creepy, and has katie holmes do creepy things to his creepy body.
-
February 21, 2007This film adaptation of Dennis Potter's acerbic TV drama-comedy-musical sucks.
-
March 5, 2011The film is with the broad supports that are an exhilarating Robert Downey, Jr. and the solid lines he's given. However, the film unfortunately collapses under the pressure of little development, forced and poorly done musical numbers, repetition, inconsistancy and, of course, ex... read more
-
June 1, 2009I had two reasons, one mainly for watching it... they were good reasons.
If I take away the enjoyment of those, the movie was pretty lame. I haven't seen the original TV thing of it so I can't compare. It seemed to be pretty pointless and nothing much happened. Yeah... also, I... read more -
October 26, 2008A very interesting dip into the tortured, sick mind of a mystery author. Downey Jr. was brilliant, as usual, giving Dark more bite than a bottle of Tabasco and more suppressed rage than a caged tiger. And that he is, caged in his own body - which is a nice contrast to the mesmo... read more
-
-
February 26, 2006I have never left a cinema during a movie, not even during The Avengers - but this made me run as fast as I could. The 20 or 30 minutes that I DID see were bad enough.
-
April 19, 2010its whimsical and the singing aint too bad. its defiantly not like anything you have ever seen and deserves at least one whole viewing
Critic Reviews
November 28, 2003
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
November 17, 2003
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
... it is just a little bit too much of a disjointed mess. Full Review
November 14, 2003
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 ex... Full Review
November 14, 2003
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
The Singing Detective has to settle for a hung jury. Full Review
November 13, 2003
Tom Long, Detroit News
It stands completely on Downey's tragi-comic performance, although the rest of the cast -- particularly Penn and Gibson -- do good work as well.
November 13, 2003
Bill Muller, Arizona Republic
Although the miniseries spent time developing the strands of the interwoven stories, the movie flits from idea to idea and plays like a chaotic, failed experiment.
November 13, 2003
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. Full Review
November 8, 2003
Charles Taylor, Salon.com
Fans of the classic Dennis Potter BBC miniseries: Stay far, far away from this pale, Americanized imitation. Full Review
November 7, 2003
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Apart from Downey's convincing contribution, the movie feels too contrived, stagy and inorganic to draw any pleasure.
November 7, 2003
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
It's the kind of movie that was made in the spirit of 'Why not?' and will leave most viewers simply asking, 'Why?'
View more
The Singing Detective
reviews
Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
