Devil in a Blue Dress

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Devil in a Blue Dress

R,

1995,

1h 42m,

Mystery & Thriller/

Crime/

Drama

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Watchlist

92%

124 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

10,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

92%

Tomatometer

124 Reviews

71%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.

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Critics Consensus

Humor, interesting characters, and attention to details make the stylish Devil in a Blue Dress an above average noir.

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Desson Thomson

Washington Post

Oct 27, 2021

In Devil, folks like Easy Rawlins have long since learned to roll with the racial punches. It's precisely that kind of offhand profundity that makes the movie so memorable. Franklin's picture is effortlessly wise beneath its entertaining surface.

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Patricia Bibby

Associated Press

Oct 27, 2021

It is a smart, sly film imbued with the rich subtle tones of a mournful blues saxophone piece, worthy of comparisons to some of the best noir films of decades past.

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S. Renee Mitchell

Detroit Free Press

Oct 27, 2021

2/4

The film climaxes in a gun battle that's as painfully predictable as they come and -- as he did with the movie in general -- Mouse saves the day. His departure from the screen brakes the film to a near halt.

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Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Willamette Week

Jan 29, 2026

Denzel Washington’s wildly underrated turn as a 1950s Los Angeles sleuth finds the two-time Oscar winner operating at peak charisma and weaving through a morass of noirisms—gangsters, political conspiracies, femmes fatales.

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Sharai Bohannon

A Nightmare On Fierce Street Podcast

May 23, 2025

4/5

'Devil in a Blue Dress' would have won so many Oscars if the Academy could have checked their biases. This movie is a masterpiece. Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle are the only duo that matters anymore.

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Todd James

Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Alberta)

Mar 29, 2024

4/5

The story unfolds slowly, but it's a script that will hook you from the start.

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Jan 31, 2019

The best mystery movie ever made!

Han M

Jan 27, 2019

In the list of great movies of the '90's this movie gets lost. It shouldn't. it's great.

Albus S

May 1, 2018

A classic of black film noir. Underappreciated at the box office, its one of Denzel's best. Cheadle just about steals the film though and begins his long and illustrious career with a bang.

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Harry W

Sep 29, 2017

What's not to love about this movie? I think the setting is captured really well, and the story is told from a fresh viewpoint. Great acting, interesting story and characters. I wish there had been a sequel, or a TV show.

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Finn P

Aug 20, 2017

Devilish Denzel in Disguise. Don Cheadle is an under-rated actor and devilishly delivers dishes of Blue Ribbon Diner Soul Food.

Poe W

Feb 7, 2017

saw in theater way back then. Barely remember, except that i hated the gratuitous couch F--k scene, and other stuff, language, etc. Also, degrading and depressing. . So i rate it accordingly, and wdn't want to see it again. except, as one reviewer on RT sd, "convincing job of re-creating Los Angeles of 1948" & "reinvents a genre and a bygone era, in this case, Los Angeles circa 1948."! So i'm reconsidering my stars. And its based on a famous detective book series. And also, Denzel, like a lot of famous actors, too often seems like he is playing himself. Or maybe cuz his voice and appearance are so familiar.

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Carl Franklin

Director

Denzel Washington

Ezekiel 'Easy' Rawlins

Tom Sizemore

DeWitt Albright

Jennifer Beals

Daphne Monet

Don Cheadle

Raymond 'Mouse' Alexander

Maury Chaykin

Matthew Terell

Devil in a Blue Dress: Official Clip - You Got Blood on My Coat

2:38

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Devil in a Blue Dress: Official Clip - The Color Line in America

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Devil in a Blue Dress: Official Clip - Threatened at Knifepoint

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Devil in a Blue Dress: Official Clip - He's My Brother!

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Devil in a Blue Dress: Official Clip - Cabin Shootout

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Devil in a Blue Dress: Official Clip - Scaring Racists

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Devil in a Blue Dress: Official Clip - Meeting Daphne

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Devil in a Blue Dress: Official Clip - Corrupt Candidate

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Devil in a Blue Dress: Official Clip - I'm Not Drunk

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Devil in a Blue Dress: Official Clip - Beaten by Cops

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Synopsis

In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.

Director: Carl Franklin
Producer: Gary Goetzman, Jesse Beaton
Screenwriter: Walter Mosley, Carl Franklin
Distributor: TriStar Pictures, Columbia Tristar, Home Box Office (HBO) [us]
Production Co: Clinica Estetico, TriStar Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 29, 1995, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $15.9M
Runtime: 1h 42m
Sound Mix: Surround

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