What’d He Wear?ĭressed in a charcoal-brown suit with a tonal bar-stripe, Mouse makes his dramatic entrance into the proceedings just in time to save Easy from the knife-wielding Frank Green (Joseph Latimore), though his trigger-happy tactics scare the hood away and ruin Easy’s chance of converting him into an effective source of information. Don Cheadle as Raymond “Mouse” Alexander in Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) Vitalsĭon Cheadle as Raymond “Mouse” Alexander, smooth but dangerous gunselĪs #Noirvember comes to a close, I want to celebrate one of my favorite characters from neo-noir, the trigger-happy “Mouse” Alexander in Devil in a Blue Dress, played by Don Cheadle who was born Novemand celebrates his 58th birthday today.įledgling private eye Ezekial “Easy” Rawlins (Denzel Washington) calls his old pal Mouse for some high-caliber help as the stakes climb but soon regrets his decision: “You ain’t been in my house five minutes and you gone and shot somebody already, Mouse!” Dangerous as he may be, Mouse remains fiercely loyal to Easy-aside from drunkenly pulling both of his guns on his friend-and proves to be a crucial (and charismatic!) element for the final act as Easy confronts gangster DeWitt Albright (Tom Sizemore) and his armed thugs who have kidnapped Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), the eponymous cerulean-clad femme fatale.Īdapted from Walter Mosley’s excellent 1990 novel of the same name, Devil in a Blue Dress received many deserved accolades as an elevated entry in the oft-tired noir canon, including Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards and National Society of Film Critics Awards for Cheadle’s enthusiastic performance as the live-wire Mouse.

Devil in a blue dress by walter mosley