Rampart

The recent run of Hollywood's "corrupt cop" movies seem to fall into two categories. There are those with great story lines which really draw the viewer into their world (like the surprisingly decent STREET KINGS) and those which show promise but move along aimlessly without a decent story (such as END OF WATCH). Unfortunately, RAMPART falls into the latter category.

The film features a gaunt Woody Harrelson as your garden-variety corrupt cop, given over to adultery, racism, misogyny and about another dozen 'isms' and 'ogynies' while you're at it. He's an intriguing character, but unfortunately he's mired in an all-too-familiar world in a storyline which never really goes anywhere, instead just plodding along until it finally finishes. It's all rather disappointing, leaving me thinking "well, was that it?" come the end. After all, it's not like it brings anything original or thought-provoking to the genre.

In addition, RAMPART also manages to waste a number of decent supporting actors who usually appear in just a scene or two. Sigourney Weaver, Ben Foster, and Steve Buscemi are three of the obvious ones who are underutilised, but Ned Beatty and THE WALKING DEAD's Jon Bernthal also deserve better than this. In the end, RAMPART becomes a depressingly humdrum cop movie, too obsessed with realism to be an entertaining movie in itself.

"I was under attack, I went after the suspect. End of story." Dave Brown (Harrelson) is an LAPD officer that who does things his own way. After he is caught on tape brutally beating someone after they hit his car his career is in jeopardy. While trying to defend himself against the charge an old alleged crime of his comes back up. This is a really good movie. The big problem is that it is again nothing really original. He acts the way "Dirty Harry" acts but has the morals of Denzel Washington in "Training Day". The movie has an all-star cast and the acting is fantastic. Harrelson especially is great in this in a very layered performance. He covers everything in this role; brutality, being a smart-ass, father in a very dysfunctional family as well as womanizer. This is a great role for him and the movie is very much worth watching. Again, though the only problem is that it seems like this movie has been done to death. Overall, nothing new but still good. I recommend this. I give it a B+.

Regarded in the trailer as "one of the most corrupt cops ever on screen," Woody Harrelson's character was honestly underwhelming. The actor did an exceptional job portraying a dirty cop, but was no where near the capacity of evil as Denzel in Training Day or Damon in The Departed. His portrayal was very real which is a characteristic that Oren Moverman appears to gravitate to in his films and while Moverman, in his second theatrical film, does a good job, it is no where near what he achieved in his amazing debut The Messenger. Harrelson did a fine job but he also failed to achieve the same greatness that he displayed in The Messanger as well. Some of the talented character actors in the film like Ben Foster and Sigourney Weaver deliver solid performances but aren't on screen enough make any impact overall to the film. It's a film that due to it's original limited release will likely struggle at the box office and moviegoers aren't missing too much in the process. I enjoy dramatic movies more than any other genre, but I found this film bland and the characters for the most part only OK at best. The actors did a good job but not good enough to make the film a success. There was just no wow factor in this film, which anticipated the wow factor being Harrelson's villainous performance. I'd give it a C in large part due to a broad and bland plot which could've been much better.

Always watchable largely thanks to Harrelson--he's really quite good---but never quite believable film tracks a couple days in the life of a not exactly dirty, but not exactly clean cop. To my mind, Harrelson's character isn't exactly dirty--we never witness him taking bribes, or stealing money, or looking the other way--he's just way overzealous in his pursuit of bad guys--actually scratch that--something happens at the mid-point that actually changes part of that last statement--but he still remains a clean(ish) cop trying to do right by society, even guys he claims to hate--he tries to give a fair shake to. Its that overzealousness that lands him in trouble tho---he beats 2 people in the first ten minutes of the movie--but in both cases i think they were both understandably beatings given the circumstances. Meh whatever, film starts piling things on for Harrelson--having been caught with a cell phone cam beating up the 2nd guy (who was running away from him!) he's then put on suspension, and then he gets put under investigation which leads to...not a whole lot honestly.

Film is a very shaggy dog story---Not much really happens throughout the movie other then just watching Woody Harrelson walk around and talk tough---he tries to bond with his teenage daughter, he tries to make it right with his ex wives, he tries to figure out what Internal Affairs wants to hear so he can get his job back, and yeah that's about it really. I feel like the events of the end don't really add up to much, and the big climactic scene at the ending is well again not much of anything really. Film is basically a 70's Esq character study of this guy and his life that seems to be arbitrarily falling apart around him. That said, the film's well shot, its nicely acted and not just by Harrelson, the actress playing his teenage daughter i feel scores just as many points as Woody does in their handful of scenes together. There's enough here that you wish it was better instead of the mish-mash stew we got going on here. still its worth a look on cable should you stumble on it.

Rampart (2011)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Woody Harrelson gives a tour de force performance playing David Brown, one of the last dirty cops still working for the LAPA in 1999. He's a dirty cop who doesn't seem to realize he is one. He was once married to two different women, sisters, and now he tries to keep them and their kids in the same house so that they can live the way a "family" is supposed to yet he doesn't realize that a good family life isn't by having kids with two sisters. Brown finally gets in over his head when he's filmed beating a man and this sets off a range of events that leave him spinning out of control. RAMPART, written by James Ellroy and director Oren Moverman, doesn't tell a straight crime story but instead it really looks at a bad man and tries to explain why he's bad. I think the bottom line is that the film is simply trying to say that there are bad people out there who are just bad all the way around and it doesn't have to be for lust, money or fame. While I do question some of the directorial choices and I think a little more focus would have helped, the main reason to check this film out is for the wonderful performances from the all-star cast. Sigourney Weaver plays a DA tired of a cop thinking he can get away with anything. Cynthia Nixon and Anne Heche are good as the ex-wives. You have Robin Wright turning in a very effective performance as a mysterious woman who enters the cops life. Ice Cube is effective in his few scenes as is Ben Foster playing a crippled vet. We even get Steve Buscemi and Ned Beatty in small but effective roles. Of course, the entire cast centers around the performance of Harrelson and this is certainly yet more proof that when given the right material he can be one of the most raw and effective actors out there. Harrelson is so effective no matter if he's just listening or speaking because you can just look at him and see all the rage and emotion built up. I really thought the actor did a remarkable job at letting the slime slip out of this character without making him a flat out creep or going so over-the-top where you feel like you're watching someone fake. I won't spoil the ending but it's certainly one that makes you think about the events you've just seen. RAMPART isn't a flawless movie but the performances are so strong that it's highly recommended.