by MALCOLM FRASER

With a signature style that’s always dynamic but often heavy-handed, Brian De Palma is one of those directors who divides viewers into lovers and haters. The Black Dahlia will satisfy the lovers, while even the haters will have to admit that it’s one of his better efforts.

In late-’40s L.A., small-time cop Dwight “Bucky” Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) finds himself partnered with the intense Sgt. Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart). They’re soon assigned to the case of Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner), an aspiring actress who turns up brutally mutilated and murdered. As their investigation leads them into various seedy corners of L.A.’s underworld, Hartnett gets caught up in a struggle between his good-guy morals and his desires, juggling the attentions of femme fatale Madeleine (Hilary Swank) and his partner’s girlfriend Kay (Scarlett Johansson).

The story, based on a novel by James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential), which was in turn based on a real-life unsolved mystery of the era, takes a lot of twists and turns in the good old-fashioned film noir style. As in The Untouchables, arguably his best film, De Palma goes for a classic cinematic feel and keeps his stylistic excesses in check (perhaps having exhausted them in his last film, the absurdly over-the-top Femme Fatale). Fans can rest easy; The Black Dahlia is still full of sweeping cameras, immense close-ups, peculiar angles and blatant Hitchcock references, but it’s all done with a certain restraint—classy rather than cartoonish.

The success of a period piece often depends on the strength of the cast, and here all the actors deliver. Hartnett, previously known for pretty-boy roles in unremarkable thrillers (Wicker Park, Lucky Number Slevin) nails the square-jawed resolve of noir-era screen heroes, while ably capturing Bucky’s moral conflicts. Eckhart does his usual solid character work, and Swank shows her actorly range, almost unrecognizable at first as the sultry Madeleine. As for Johansson, De Palma milks her old-fashioned star quality for all it’s worth, dolling her up in fancy outfits and often lingering on her face in silent close-ups. It’s still hard to tell whether she’s truly a great actress or just looks like one, but her hypnotizing screen presence is undeniable, and it’s exploited here to full effect.

De Palma’s characterizations of women have led some critics to accuse him of misogyny, or at the very least of a pre-feminist attitude. Here, the women are certainly portrayed with suspicion and distrust, but unlike some of his other films, it doesn’t come across as offensive—either because such suspicion is inherent in the genre, or because all the men in the film are every bit as treacherous as the women.

At two hours and change, the film could have used a little trimming. The story takes a while to get going, and includes a lot of details that add colour but distract from the main plot. And as in many a murder mystery, the set-up is more interesting than the payoff. But the unpredictable twists keep you interested, and Ellroy’s gritty, cynical vision mixed with De Palma’s stylized atmospherics is a winning formula for thriller fans.

The Black Dahlia opens Friday, Sept. 15

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