Devil in a Blue Dress is a smooth and stylish mystery drama set in Los Angeles in 1948 and based on a novel by Walter Mosley. Denzel Washington in another well-realized performance plays Easy Rawlins, a man who finds himself in dire straits after losing his job as an airplane mechanic. He is on the verge of losing his portion of the American dream — a small bungalow in a nice neighborhood.
In order to make some quick money, Easy takes a walk on the wild side by trying to track down Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), a white girl last seen in the company of blacks. Soon he is up to his neck in trouble involving murder, blackmail, and political corruption. As they did in the movie Chinatown, the rich and the powerful in Los Angeles play dirty and low-down games with the lives of those less fortunate than they are.
Writer and director Carl Franklin skillfully plumbs the noirish depths of this taut dream. Devil in a Blue Dress is a gem.