The Singing Detective is a movie which defies description or explanation. Any attempt at a summation of the plot would be futile. It's a comedy, it's a musical, it's a mystery, it's film noir. Well, it has elements of all of those things anyway but the end product does not fit neatly into any category. Structure? The movie really has none. This means that, while it may be interesting, it often comes across as somewhat incoherent. Much of the movie seems to take place inside the main character's head. But that character is the most unreliable of narrators. He doesn't have any grasp on what is real so how can the audience? This is a movie you just have to try to figure out for yourself.

Robert Downey, Jr. plays the main character, Dan Dark. Dan is a writer of cheap, lurid detective novels. Right now he finds himself laid up in the hospital with the worst case of psoriasis you've ever seen. He's in terrible pain, pretty much completely incapacitated and quite possibly losing his mind. He lapses into a fantasy world in which he is the main character in his own novel. But characters from the novel start to appear in the real world. Or do they? Are we still inside Dan Dark's mind? If so, how do we get out because inside Dan Dark's mind is not a particularly pleasant place to be.

This carries on throughout the film, real world and fantasy worlds colliding. Even what seems obviously real may not be. We meet Dan's wife, played enigmatically by Robin Wright. She's cheating on him. Or does Dan just think she is so that is what is presented as reality? In flashbacks Carla Gugino plays Dan's mother. But then she shows up as an entirely different person in Dan's delusions. Mel Gibson plays a rather strange psychologist who may well be able to help Dan if only Dan actually wanted to be helped. Maybe Dan prefers to retreat into his own mind, into his fantasy world. Does this all come together in the end? Not really. You're left largely wondering what in the world it was that you just saw. But confusing though it may be the movie still manages to be pretty entertaining. Downey turns in an excellent performance. Wright and Gibson are very good as well. Adrien Brody and Katie Holmes are among the performers who are solid in smaller roles.

The movie is well-acted all around and the story draws you in. But as you go deeper and deeper there is the sense the movie spirals a little bit out of control. Some structure would have helped. But if told in entirely straightforward fashion the story would not have been nearly as interesting. This movie is unique. Some will love it. Some will hate it. It is a movie which was an interesting experiment. Maybe you'll appreciate what was attempted here, maybe you won't. Everyone is going to have their own unique personal reaction to this movie. To each their own.

Robert Downey jr. plays Danny Dark, a writer of pulp fiction novel called "The Singing Detective." He is hospitalized with a skin disorder which apparently is psychological. His shrink is played by Mel Gibson, in an unorthodox role for him. Dark's novel is based on events in his childhood, making characters from people he had met. Danny is delusional and imagines things in the present, confounding the people in real life with the characters in his book. The dialogue in the movie is excellent. If you enjoyed the dark humor of the Joker in the Dark Knight, you will enjoy the ramblings of Downey early on. The real problem with the movie is that you realize that all the action in the film is delusional. As far as real action and plot, the film moves along as a one man play. Bad language, simulated sex, no nudity.

A detective author, trapped in a hospital due to some unusual psychosomatic disease, comes to terms with his stories... realizing they are based more on his own life than he ever thought before. The story parallels between the real world and the one of fantasy, though the line is not always distinct.

Some films are just made the way movies should be made. This is one of them. The director (who I don't recall at the moment) really hit the nail on the head, giving off exactly the right aura for this sort of film: the right characters, the right actors, the right music, the right lighting. This struck me as one of those movies where you really felt like you were inside the film, a feeling that movies can rarely achieve (though books may succeed).

The plot is simple after you figure it out, but like the characters will constantly tell you, there are more clues than solutions. You will become more and more confused until finally you "get it" -- this moment makes the whole thing pay off. Sort of like "The Prestige", though not really.

Robert Downey is such a fine actor and a respectable singer (in the scenes he actually sings). Unfortunately, he is better known for his drug problems than his acting. Directors, cast this man in your movie! He has the charisma and the capability to pull off what you want him to do! Katie Holmes, best known as Joey Potter from "Dawson's Creek" or as Mrs. Tom Cruise, is alright in this. I've always considered her a weak actress, not able to express much range beyond the innocent look. Her character here is innocent, so I suppose that's fine... but if I never see her in a movie again, that's fine (admit it, she's the weak spot in "Batman Begins").

Mel Gibson, who I am not a big fan of, surprised me here... mostly because I didn't recognize him under all the makeup. Great role, great acting, well done (and I suppose to be a supporting actor to Downey when you're as well known as Gibson takes some work). One of Gibson's best! Conclusion: this film slipped through the cracks in 2003 and has disappeared. Pick it up, check it out... maybe I'm wrong, but this seems like the kind of film that might come back years later as a cult favorite. Be the first on your block to realize how sweet this one is.