Devil in a Blue Dress

In late-1940s Los Angeles, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins is a Black World War II veteran struggling to find steady work and keep up the payments on his house. When a white stranger named DeWitt Albright offers him money to track down Daphne Monet, a white woman who has disappeared and is thought to be spending time in the city's Black jazz clubs, Easy takes the job out of financial necessity. The search draws him into a world of corrupt politics, police violence and murder, and he soon calls on his friend Mouse Alexander for help.

Carl Franklin directed and wrote the screenplay, following his 1992 film One False Move and preceding One True Thing, High Crimes and Out of Time. Denzel Washington plays Easy Rawlins, with Tom Sizemore as Albright, Jennifer Beals as Daphne Monet and Don Cheadle as Mouse Alexander; Maury Chaykin and Terry Kinney also appear among a credited cast of 39. The film was produced by TriStar Pictures with Clinica Estetico and Mundy Lane Entertainment on a budget of 27 million dollars, and took about 16 million dollars worldwide.

On IMDb it holds 4.5/10 from 13 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.5/10 from 478 votes. A film critics' rating of 7.7/10 from 124 reviews places it clearly above both audience scores.