With a fine pedigree in brutal, uncompromising crime dramas - Scarface, The Untouchables and Carlito's Way - director Brian De Palma would seem a perfect ringmaster for this handsome adaptation of James Ellroy's best-selling novel.

Unfortunately, Josh Friedman's script ties itself in knots trying to distil the book's dense plot, inspired by the real-life murder of a '40s Hollywood starlet, resulting in a baffling final 30 minutes saturated with hurried exposition and revelations.

The first hour stands The Black Dahlia in good stead, meticulously sketching the characters and laying the foundations for an intriguing romantic triangle.

Once the film broadens its scope, introducing characters from the upper echelons of wealth and power in Tinseltown, momentum and dramatic tension quickly dissipate.

And Fiona Shaw's portrayal of a mentally unstable society matriarch with a dark secret is so over the top, it seems to hark from a different film entirely. The pivotal scene, which reveals the sordid truth about the murder, is overshadowed by Shaw's comical wave to her co-stars.

De Palma enlivens the two hour running time with his dazzling, trademark flourishes.

But even his directorial brio isn't enough to prevent The Black Dahlia wilting.