'Dahlia' blooms and withers

The return of Brian De Palmais is something the film community has eagerly anticipated for quite some time. Consider it nearly a decade; after all, he's spent 10 years of making movies like "Snake Eyes" and "Mission to Mars," which have no real place in his filmography. "The Black Dahlia" is De Palma's return to form. \nBased on James Ellroy's ("L.A. Confidential") noir-ish novel of the same name, "Dahlia" follows officers Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) and Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) from one brutal boxing match for charity to the sin-ridden streets of Los Angeles on the hunt for a child murderer. It is on this hunt that both of their worlds are given the 180, upon discovering the body of Elizabeth Short -- aka the "Black Dahlia" -- in a field during a stakeout. She's been cut in half, disemboweled, drained of blood and has a new smile that runs from ear-to-ear. \nAll the major players turn in top-notch performances. Scarlett Johansson as Kay Lake serves as the fascinating third party in a love triangle with Hartnett and Eckhart, while Hilary Swank's character Madeleine Linscott mysteriously resembles the Black Dahlia and uses her affinity to lure men into her bed. Between these four are all the right doses of obsession and sexual tension to prove De Palma is back, although Eckhart could've used more screen time to fully develop his mad fascination with Short's murder. And then there is Short, played by Mia Kirshner ("The L Word"), whose brief screen appearance is magnetic and, from the audience's side, voyeuristic. \nThe real case of the Short murder was never actually solved, and De Palma and Ellroy try their own spin on the subject. Granted, De Palma's style is in full force (see the long-take crane shot when Short's body is discovered), but "Dahlia" hits a roadblock by jumbling too many story details together. With this mess, the actual Black Dahlia murder serves more as a backdrop than an actual story -- it is only in odd coincidences and frustrations that it finds a place that acts as the dark cloud hanging above everyone's head. \n"Dahlia" is a film that deserves more than one viewing. Like much of De Palma's work, there is still something beneath the surface waiting to be dug up, which could either make perfect sense or tarnish the film further. Regardless, while story problems are rather hard to overlook, this film is still a great achievement for De Palma and noir in modern filmmaking.