In a story of murder, romance, lust and mystery, “The Black Dahlia” captures audiences in classic film noir style. Based on the novel “The Black Dahlia” by James Ellroy, “Dahlia” tells the story of the murder of Elizabeth Short in the 1940s and the two cops assigned to find her killer.

Directed by Brian De Palma, “Dahlia” keeps audiences guessing through seemingly nonsensical plot twists.

The movie revolves around the murder of Elizabeth Short, a struggling actress. The press nicknamed Short “The Black Dahlia” in reference to a 1946 movie called “The Blue Dahlia.”

The unsolved murder actually occurred, but the rest of the events depicted in the movie are fictionalized.

Officer Bucky Bleicher (Josh Hartnett), and his partner Sergeant Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) are assigned the Dahlia case after making headlines for excellent police work earlier that year. Blanchard quickly looses his head and becomes obsessed with the case, while Bleicher tries to keep him from going off the deep end completely. Scarlett Johansson plays Kay Lake, Blanchard’s live-in girlfriend who tries to keep her loyalty to her boyfriend while becoming ever closer to Bleicher.

Through his investigation, Bleicher interviews Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank), who looks remarkably like Short and had met her briefly the previous year. As Bleicher begins a relationship with Linscott in return for keeping her name out of the papers regarding the Dahlia case, he delves more deeply into the sordid details of Short’s life and the circumstances surrounding her death.

De Palma tries to emulate classic noir style through the speech pattern of the actors and the trumpet-filled movie score. There are touches of the modern, however, with slightly raunchy sex scenes and the violence depicting Short’s death. The acting is somewhat over-the-top, but the film is reminiscent of a twisted bedtime story told in classic Hollywood-style drama.

“Dahlia” keeps viewers guessing throughout.

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