due to being a "pain-in-the-ass" to raise, and Dan was often alone in his room to read. His father also constantly beat up his wife and kid. Just as he is about to be released from the hospital, he has another hallucination where reality meets his novel fantasies; the two thugs quickly drag his hospital bed throughout the building and attempt to kill him, while he also imagines himself as the detective alongside other vaudeville women. It ends with the fictional detective shooting the real author. After the hallucination, he leaves the hospital with his wife. Cast Production Potter's screenplay had been circulating in Hollywood for many years as Potter was enthusiastic about a film version. Robert Altman was at one time attached to direct with Dustin Hoffman in the lead, but financing proved difficult and the production was shelved. It was eventually discovered by an executive at Mel Gibson's production company Icon Productions, who loved it and got Gibson on board to produce. The screenplay had also been imagined as a horror film directed by genre veteran David Cronenberg and starring Al Pacino as the title character. Reception The film scored a 39% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews from 108 critics, with an average rating of 5.09/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Delightful performance from Robert Downey Jr. can't save The Singing Detective'''s transition from TV to the big screen". While some critics, such as Roger Ebert, liked the film, others, like Joe Baltake at the Sacramento Bee, considered it an "interesting failure". Soundtrack The soundtrack to The Singing Detective'' was released on October 14, 2003. It consisted of songs from the 1950s rather than the 1940s as in the original television series. References External links Senses of Cinema review 2003 films 2003 independent films 2000s musical comedy-drama films 2000s mystery comedy-drama films 2000s crime comedy-drama films American independent films American musical comedy-drama films American mystery comedy-drama films 2000s English-language films Films directed by Keith Gordon Films with screenplays by Dennis Potter Adultery in films Films about writers Films based on television series Films set in the 1950s Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles Jukebox musical films Self-reflexive films Films about parallel universes Icon Productions films Paramount Vantage films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Scanbox Entertainment films Films produced by Mel Gibson Films produced by Bruce Davey American crime comedy-drama films 2003 comedy films 2003