What is it about Denzel Washington that makes me feel bad about not liking one of his movies? For some reason, his presence in a crappy film lends some sort of credibility, talent and worst of all, guilt on my part that I could barely sit through the thing.

Maybe it’s some sort of loyalty toward Virtuosity and Crimson Tide, but I’ve got to overcome it long enough to spout off about how bad Devil in a Blue Dress is. Denzel can’t save this one, even with a rad Army tattoo on his arm.

Okay: The film is set in the summer of 1948, and the D-man plays a World War II vet, Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, who lost his factor y job and is scrambling to somehow pay the bills. Opportunity steps in, in the form of Mr. Albright, who commissions Easy to find Daphne (Jennifer Beals), the white fianc‚ of a mayoral candidate who has disappeared, but who is notorious for digging the company of blacks.

Whew!

And a web of mystery, murder and intrigue manage to follow Easy wherever he goes, and it doesn’t help that he’s a black man digging around for information on a prominent white woman.

Anyway, Denzel is a definite highlight, because he is charming and intelligent, even when surrounded by doofs and drunken fools. His extremely violent friend Mouse (Don Cheadle) adds a twinge of humor, but for good buddies, he and Easy don’t have the necessary chemistry.

The dialogue was impossible to decipher (maybe it was the crappy theater sound system), and the action sequences were confusing. So many names and nicknames and pet names jumbled together that I could barely follow the action. I actually thought Mouse was called Miles.

And I have a question: what was people’s obsession with bourbon? Breakfast, lunch and dinner — gimme a pint for each, dammit! Everyone in this movie loves hard liquor, and it makes me wonder how anyone was coherent to remember enough to make a film about some goings-on way back then.

Ames Theatre * 7:00 & 9:10