One of the best things to emerge from the Film Noir Era is the Neo-Noir style of filmmaking. (I will devote a new post entirely to this subject.) Neo-Noir movies push the boundaries of Noir in terms of plot, characters, and geography. While this novel is set in 1940s LA like many film noir movies, it differs as it features an African American protagonist, ‘Easy’ Rawlins, played marvelously by Denzel Washington.

“Devil in a Blue Dress,” directed by Carl Franklin, is based on Walter Mosley’s book of the same name. After being laid off from an aircraft company, Rawlins is hanging around his usual watering hole when bartender Joppy introduces him to Albright, a white private investigator.

Albright asks Rawlins to locate Daphne Monet, a white woman engaged to a mayoral candidate who has absconded, forcing her fiancé, Carter, to quit the electoral race. Easy finds Coretta, a friend and confidant of Daphne, in a bar. After seducing Coretta, Rawlins gets her to reveal that Daphne is involved with a black hoodlum, Frank Green.

As Rawlins becomes more involved in finding the elusive Daphne, a series of events puts his life in peril. Coretta is murdered. Rawlins then has a rough encounter with the LAPD and is accosted by Terrell, the mayoral candidate running against Carter.

Rawlins manages to find Daphne, and the two stumble upon a gruesome murder scene. Daphne flees the scene, only to disappear again. Gangsters then pay Rawlins a visit, leading him to seek the assistance of his hair-triggered, gun-toting friend, Mouse (Don Cheadle). An explosive shootout is in the offing.

Whether Rawlins manages to save Daphne in time and unlock the mystery involving her forms the rest of the story. The film also examines racism in all its forms, both subtle and blatant, which existed then and continues to persist today. One aspect that needs to be mentioned is Don Cheadle’s role. Yes, he had a juicy role that he played to perfection. It is not easy to steal the spotlight from Denzel Washington, but Cheadle manages to pull it off. One question I will not answer is if there is a Femme Fatale in this movie. With its private eye, gangsters, self-serving politicians, and crooked cops, “Devil in a Blue Dress” has made its mark as one of the best Neo-Noir films ever made.