Friday, June 13, 2008

Sweet Black and Blue

Author(s): D.W. Dillon
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

"Sweet Black and Blue"


Directed by David Lynch
Written by David Lynch and Mark Frost
Music by Angelo Badalamenti
Produced by Francis Ford Coppola and David Lynch

Genre: Mystery/Drama

Principal Cast:

Christian Bale - Det. Jonathan Beaumont
Idina Menzel - Isabella Beaumont
Naomi Watts - Michelle Bells
Elias Koteas - Dr. Dale Dickens
Miranda Cosgrove - Camilla Beaumont
Emma Roberts - Betty Bookbinder
and
Christopher Walken as Bob Krook

Tagline: "Evil awaits our fall"

Synopsis: Sin City...Las Vegas. Michelle Bells (Naomi Watts) steps up to the stage, no more nerves, just going through the motions. Her experience shows and so does her age. Her 'Dorothy' costume still fetching, as the stage lights glow gold to the floor as the yellow brick road. She skips to her mark, sprays down the pole with Lysol, and with unenthusiastic perfect timing, begins her striptease. Her routine, day in and day out has caught the eye of many unsavory men, but none more than the creepy Mr. Bob Krook (Christopher Walken). He has never asked for a private lap dance, never drinks, and never shouted obscenities. He's not so much a regular at the strip club but more of an irregular. Bob Krook, who on this night, out of the dark blue sky, requests a lap dance from a women who's finally given in, and given up on everything righteous in her life.

Detective Beaumont (Christian Bale), new to the homicide unit eagerly takes on the case of the mysterious death of a stripper who burned to death while giving a lap dance to the now incarcerated Bob Krook. Beaumont, once a childhood friend of Michelle, took a different road in life and has grown into a man of morals, strong ethics and a deep belief in the goodness of his fellow man. Bob Krook sure does look guilty and logic places the blame upon him, still Beaumont finds himself dumbfounded. No evidence, no signs of struggle, with vague testimony from witnesses around, "...she was just dancing on him and burst into flames...." Police forensics oddball Dr. Dale Dickens (Elias Koteas) offers up one unfavorable explanation...Spontaneous Human Combustion.

Consumed by the odd case, Det. Beaumont's neglected family begin a steady decline. Bob Krook's photos cover the walls of his office at home. Daughter, 13 year old Camilla (Miranda Cosgrove) cannot sleep. Though Krook is chain and shackled away, awaiting trial, he chases the child in her nightmares. Wife, Isabella (Idina Menzel) has turned her attention to the slot machines, gambling her heart away, chain-smoking her lungs into a black landfill.

"It's called the Black Out Game, Camilla, you never played it?", says Camilla's best friend, Betty Bookbinder (Emma Roberts). As Betty applies pressure to the back of Camilla's neck, she faints. Blood rushes to Camilla's head as Betty quickly brings her out of consciousness. Later that night, Camilla, now alone in her room is startled by a ghostly vision of Krook. Fearing the nightmare that awaits her, she attempts the dangerous high. Her drug of choice to chase away the devil. She wraps a bicycle chain around the back of her neck and begins to pull herself into the eternal darkness.

Some say the horrors we face are tests. Detective Beaumont has experienced unfathomable pain and loss. He's become cynical, depressed, and apathetic to the world around him. His wife, with her soul in limbo as well, has now drowned her sorrows into the bottle. Bob Krook is a free man, stalking the destitute Isabella. Detective Beaumont needs to fight his demons, with the help of Dr. Dickens; solve the mystery behind Bob Krook and save the soul of the wife he used to love so dear or the 'sweet black and blue' will consume the downhearted.

What the press would say:

When we want gangsters, we look for Scorsese. When we want epic, we look for Spielberg. When we want strange, only one name comes to mind...David Lynch. With his latest masterpiece, "Sweet Black and Blue," Lynch offers up the classic struggle of good vs. evil amidst love and loss. And nobody does it better. Lynch finds a way to combine the enigma of Mulholland Dr., the oddity of Twin Peaks, and the uneasy reality of Blue Velvet all into this gut-wrenching and shocking mystery. Evil has never been more personified in the appearance of Christopher Walken, who's grim reaper stalks the characters as well as us, the viewers. Lynch regular Naomi Watts sinks into the role of the ill-fated, burned out actress-turned stripper who's sad and brief appearance forces our stomachs to drop in the terrifying opening scene. Miranda Cosgrove moves from Nickelodeon to the 'World of Lynch' who's nightmare-consumed Camilla and the road she travels strikes fear into every parent. We view these odd tragedies from the eyes of Christian Bale's Detective Beaumont and Idina Menzel's Isabella Beaumont. Their brilliant display of pain and loss through a husband trying to sustain some sense of normalcy and understanding and a wife completely floored by the hell that has fallen upon her. When viewing Lynch's work, we like to play Batman to Lynch's Riddler. But for the "Sweet Black and Blue" Lynch indulges us to follow a straighter arrow to not find meaning, but to find hope. Lynch dares us to give in and take the easy way out, but it comes with a price. But inside this canvas that is dark and mysterious, is a glimmer of light that is hypnotic and comforting.

Best Picture - David Lynch and Francis Ford Coppola
Best Director - David Lynch
Best Actor - Christian Bale
Best Actress - Idina Menzel
Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Walken
Best Supporting Actress - Miranda Cosgrove
Best Supporting Actress - Naomi Watts
Best Original Screenplay - David Lynch and Mark Frost
Best Cinematography - Ronald Garcia (Twin Peaks)
Best Editing - Mary Sweeney (Mulholland Dr.)
Best Score - Angelo Badalamenti (Lost Highway)
Best Art Direction - Christina Ann Wilson (Jarhead)
Best Sound - David Lynch
Best Sound Editing - David Lynch
Best Special Effects - David Lynch

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