Let the Devil Wear Black is a 1999

1999 in film

The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...

 film directed by Stacy Title

Stacy Title

Stacy Title is a film director and producer. Her filmography as director includes Let the Devil Wear Black , The Last Supper and Down on the Waterfront .She is the wife of Jonathan Penner and has directed him in several movies...

, co-written by Title and her husband, actor Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Penner

Jonathan Lindsay Penner is an American actor, writer and film producer known for starring in The Last Supper and the television series Rude Awakening and The Naked Truth, as well as for appearing on the television show Survivor.-Life and career:Penner was born in New York City...

. The film is a modern retelling of the classic play Hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

.

Background

The film is a modern day version of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

's Hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

that is set in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. Its promotional tagline

Tagline

A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product...

 is "Something is Rotten in the City of Angels".

The film reworks various Shakespearean plot devices. All of the language is modern. Comparisons are easy to spot between the play and the film if the person is familiar with the play. Even with it being based on Hamlet, Christopher Null of Film Critic said that it still has enough originality. Before the film was rated, Joe Leydon of Variety

Variety (magazine)

Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

said that a couple of relatively explicit sex scenes would have to be cut if the producers wanted an R rating.

Plot

Jack, a grad student who has a history of mental illness

Mental illness

A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...

 can not get over the death of his father. Jack decides to take over his father's business. After receiving an anonymous tip that his father was murdered, he tries to put together the murder scheme. Soon after, he settles on his Uncle Carl as the prime suspect. At the same time, he realizes that his life is in danger.

DVD release

The DVD was released in 2000 in English and German. The DVD has 15 chapters, Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, pan and scan

Pan and scan

Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a standard definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus on the composition's most important aspects...

 transfer, Spanish subtitles, and a moving video scene index menu. The special features are behind the scenes footage and two versions of the film's movie trailer.

Principal cast

Actor	Role
Jonathan Penner Jonathan Penner Jonathan Lindsay Penner is an American actor, writer and film producer known for starring in The Last Supper and the television series Rude Awakening and The Naked Truth, as well as for appearing on the television show Survivor.-Life and career:Penner was born in New York City...	Jack Lyne
Norman Reedus Norman Reedus Norman Mark Reedus is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal as Murphy MacManus in the 1999 film The Boondock Saints as well as its 2009 sequel The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day and for the character of Daryl Dixon in the AMC television series The Walking Dead...	Brautigan
Jacqueline Bisset Jacqueline Bisset Jacqueline Bisset is an English actress. She has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy Award. She is known for her roles in the films Bullitt , Airport , The Deep , Class , and the TV series Nip/Tuck in 2006...	Helen Lyne
Mary-Louise Parker Mary-Louise Parker Mary-Louise Parker is an American actress, known for her current lead role on Showtime's television series Weeds portraying Nancy Botwin, for which she has received several nominations and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 2006...	Julia Hirsch
Jamey Sheridan Jamey Sheridan James Patrick "Jamey" Sheridan is an American actor. He was born in Pasadena, California.He has had a prolific acting career in theater, television, and feature film productions. Born to a family of actors, he made it to Broadway and earned a Tony nomination in 1987 for his performance in the...	Carl Lyne
Chris Sarandon Chris Sarandon Chris Sarandon is an American actor who was married to actress Susan Sarandon between 1968 and 1979. He is best known for playing Prince Humperdinck in the film The Princess Bride, the vampire Jerry Dandridge in Fright Night and Detective Mike Norris in the first entry of the Child's Play series,...	Mr. Lyne
Andrea Martin Andrea Martin Andrea Louise Martin is an American and Canadian actress and comedienne. She has appeared in films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, on stage in productions such as My Favorite Year, Fiddler on the Roof and Candide, and in the television series, SCTV.-Personal life:Martin, the oldest of three...	April
Philip Baker Hall Philip Baker Hall -Early life:Hall was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of a factory worker father who was from Montgomery, Alabama. He attended the University of Toledo. As a younger man, Hall served in the military, started a family, and became a high school English teacher. In 1961, he decided to become an actor...	Sol Hirsch
Joanna Gleason Joanna Gleason Joanna Gleason is a Canadian actress and singer. She is a Tony Award-winning musical theatre actress and has also had a number of notable film and TV roles.-Early life:...	Dr. Rona Harvey

Reception

A Reel Film review said the actors are good and that the somber tone makes the film watchable. Christopher Null, of Film Critic, said that the film's most priceless moment is when the character Ophelia samples dog food.