Devil in a Blue Dress

REVIEW
Washington, that master of subtle characterization, has created another persona rooted in a specific time and place with striking authenticity. Washington is Easy Rawlins (the character in Walter Mosley's books), a WWII vet whose recent unemployment coupled with mortgage payments induces him to agree to DeWitt Albright's (Sizemore) request to locate Daphne Money (Beals). She's an enigmatic beauty publicly tied to a local politico, and she's recently dropped out of sight. Soon Rawlins finds that he's fallen down the rabbit hole. He calls on an old acquaintance for support, Cheadle in a hyperkinetic turn as Mouse, who shoots first and rarely asks questions. Director Franklin has delivered a fitting follow-up to One False Move, meticulously re-creating late 1940s Los Angeles and bathing it in the golden glow of reminiscence.