History Film / DevilInABlueDress

* KickTheSonOfABitch: When a group of racists are threatening Easy, Albright shows up and humiliates the leader before threatening to blow his head open with a gun. It establishes that Albright is definitely an unsavory man, but via an AssholeVictim.

* ChekhovsGun: In the first scene, Joppy yells at a patron for slamming a mug on his marble countertop. Later in the film, Easy threatens Joppy's countertops to get him to talk.

* KickTheSonOfABitch:
** When a group of racists are threatening Easy, Albright shows up and humiliates the leader before threatening to blow his head open with a gun. It establishes that Albright is definitely an unsavory man, but via an AssholeVictim.
** Mouse's murder of [[spoiler:Joppy]] may be this. He strangled them while they were defenseless and admits that he did it because he didn't want to take the time to tie them up and it was easier that way. However in a previous scene Mouse learning that [[spoiler:Joppy]] killed Coretta, a woman he was friendly with, made him try and kill them; so going through with it may have been PayEvilUntoEvil.

A 1995 Neo-Noir mystery thriller directed by Carl Franklin and adapted from [[TheFilmOfTheBook the novel of the same name]] by Walter Mosley, the first in his Easy Rawlins series. It stars Creator/DenzelWashington as Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins and Creator/DonCheadle as Raymond "Mouse" Alexander.

Easy Rawlins is a WWII vet trying his best to live the American Dream in 1948 UsefulNotes/LosAngeles. Having just been laid off his job and struggling with mortgage payments, Easy's bartender friend, Joppy (Mel Winkler), points him to the shady [=DeWitt=] Albright (Creator/TomSizemore), who's looking to find a woman. Albright is looking for Daphne Monet (Creator/JenniferBeals), girlfriend of the mayoral candidate Todd Carter (Creator/TerryKinney). Daphne's gone missing and Easy is paid quite well just for details on her location. As untrustworthy as Albright is, Easy needs the money and agrees to do it, getting caught up in a disastrous web of lies and crime.

* AccidentalMisnaming: A sign of Rawlins' inexperience in private investigation is that he doesn't even get his target's name right. Coretta has to correct him.
** This may be more in the line of ObfuscatingStupidity on Rawlins' part, trying to find Daphne without making it too obvious, but Coretta can see right through him.
* AdaptationalBadass: Easy comes off as a bit more proactive and capable in the film compared to the book, where he comes off as more of a PinballProtagonist at times, with many of the clues being more or less given to him. Justified in that he's not as experienced here as he is in later books.

** In the book Easy needs to twist Carter's arm to get him to help clear his name from the murders. Carter offers to do it in the film with little prompting.

** Albright toes the line swapping from polite to violent in the drop of the hat. It's notable that when threatening Easy at his house and demanding some alcohol, Easy mouthing off to him earns a hearty chuckle and an admiration at his guts.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: This is a plot point. [[spoiler:Daphne]] is revealed to be mixed race, "a creole mother and white father" which lets her pass as white. She has a black half brother who's familial connection she hides.

* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Implied
-->'''Mouse:''' If you didn't want him dead, Easy; why did you leave him with ''me?''
* BaitTheDog: While Albright never really qualifies, being a suspicious character from the start, there are some disturbing revelations about certain characters.
** Matthew Terell seems to be a rather affable family man running for mayor. He's suspicious, but not as suspect as Albright. [[spoiler:It turns out that he was the one who hired Albright and set the plot into motion. Terell's pedophile and Daphne found evidence against him. The kid he was acting paternal to was one of his victims]].

* GunpointBanter: Averted; Easy nearly gets his head blown off when he sticks his head up to answer Albright.

** When a group of racists are threatening Easy, Albright shows up, and humiliates the leader before threatening to blow his head open with a gun. It establishes that Albright is definitely an unsavory man, but via an AssholeVictim.

** Mouse's murder of [[spoiler:Albright]] comes off as one. Sure they'd been in a gunfight, but Mouse puts a bullet through their lungs and leaves them on the ground gasping for breath and dying rather painfully. Instead of finishing him off, Mouse just stands by and admires his handiwork; he didn't have a personal reason for any of that, it's just how Mouse is.

* PetTheDog: When all's said and done, Mouse get's paid the full amount and basically forces Easy to take his share of the cut (which is half). Mouse reasons that Easy would be too righteous and try to give it all back had Daphne given it. He does try to later on, but she was gone by that point.

** Matthew Teran is killed in the books by Daphne but Matthew Terell survives the movie [[spoiler:though he seems to have been arrested]].

* TrueBlueFemininity: Averted; Daphne is no innocent as the title makes clear, though whether she's a true FemmeFatale is debatable. She's certainly well aware of her attractiveness to men however, and doesn't hesitate to use it to her advantage.

* AdaptationalBadass: Easy comes off as a bit more proactive and capable in the film compared to the book, where he comes off as more of a PinballProtagonist at times, with many of the clues being more or less given to him. Justified in that he's not as experienced as he is in later books.

* AdaptationalBadass: Easy comes off as a bit more proactive and capable in the film compared to the book, where he comes off as more of a PinballProtagonist at times, with many of the clues he finds being handed to him. Somewhat justified in that he's not as experienced as he is in later books.

* AccidentalMisnaming: A sign of Rawling's inexperience in private investigation is that he doesn't even get his target's name right. Coretta has to correct him.

* MyNameIsNotDurwood: A sign of Rawling's inexperience in private investigation is that he doesn't even get his target's name right. Coretta has to correct him.

A 1995 Neo-Noir mystery thriller directed by Carl Franklin and adapted from [[TheFilmOfTheBook the novel of the same name]] by Walter Mosley, the first in his Easy Rawlins series. It stars Creator/DenzelWashington as Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins and Creator/DonCheadle as Mouse Alexander.

* KnifeNut: Frank Green, who's most distinctive trait as a gangster is his penchant for knives.

Easy Rawlins is a WWII vet trying his best to live the American Dream in 1948 UsefulNotes/LosAngeles. Having just been laid off his job and struggling with mortgage payments, Easy's bartender friend, Joppy (Mel Winkler), points him to the shady [=DeWitt=] Albright (Creator/TomSizemore), who's looking to find a woman. Albright is looking for Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), girlfriend of the mayoral candidate Todd Carter (Creator/TerryKinney). Daphne's gone missing and Easy is paid quite well just for details on her location. As untrustworthy as Albright is, Easy needs the money and agrees to do it, getting caught up in a disastrous web of lies and crime.

Easy Rawlins is a WWII vet trying his best to live the American Dream in 1948 UsefulNotes/LosAngeles. Having just been laid off his job and struggling with mortgage payments, Easy's bartender friend, Joppy (Mel Winkler), points him to the shady [=DeWitt=] Albright (Tom Sizemore), who's looking to find a woman. Albright is looking for Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), girlfriend of the mayoral candidate Todd Carter (Terry Kinney). Daphne's gone missing and Easy is paid quite well just for details on her location. As untrustworthy as Albright is, Easy needs the money and agrees to do it, getting caught up in a disastrous web of lies and crime.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: This is a plot point. [[spoiler:Daphne]] is revealed to be mixed race, "a creole mother and white father" which let's her pass as white. She has a black half brother who's familial connection she hides.

* MixedAncestry: [[spoiler:Frank and Daphne]], both having the same mixed-race mother; the former having a black father and the latter a white one.

Easy Rawlins is a WWII vet trying his best to live the American Dream in 1948 LosAngeles. Having just been laid off his job and struggling with mortgage payments, Easy's bartender friend, Joppy (Mel Winkler), points him to the shady [=DeWitt=] Albright (Tom Sizemore), who's looking to find a woman. Albright is looking for Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), girlfriend of the mayoral candidate Todd Carter (Terry Kinney). Daphne's gone missing and Easy is paid quite well just for details on her location. As untrustworthy as Albright is, Easy needs the money and agrees to do it, getting caught up in a disastrous web of lies and crime.

A 1995 Neo-Noir mystery thriller directed by Carl Franklin and adapted from the novel of the same name by Walter Mosley, the first in his Easy Rawlins series. It stars Creator/DenzelWashington as Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins and Creator/DonCheadle as Mouse Alexander.