Everyone's a critic: 'The Black Dahlia'

One star (out of four)

To be honest, I was so confused for most of the film, I kept asking one my co-workers from the travel agency who was with me if she understood what was going on.

She kept whispering back, "No, do you?"

"The Black Dahlia" weaves such a complicated web of zillions of characters you don't even know what the plot is or where the film is going. Even when they suddenly tell you the answer of her death then slap up a big "THE END" on the screen, you sit there going "Huh?"

The film doesn't really focus on the fledgling Hollywood starlet who was found butchered in a field, but spreads the plot between about 20 characters ... confusing. This film frustrated me because the plot was lost in so many side stories and too many characters and facts. There were several scenes that were too raw that made me squirm in both the gore and sex department.

The movie is fiction but pulls from the real-life unsolved murder of Beth Short (www.bethshort.com). I think if I watched it say, 10 times, maybe eventually I'd get what the director was trying to portray and eventually appreciate the film. But why waste my time? Hated it!

-- Carolyn Kempf