Dark Blue

LAPD. For many years, Eldon Perry(Russell, giving a great deal of charm to a scumbag) has handled the streets the old-fashioned way, like he prefers to. But things might be changing soon. Arthur(Rhames, refreshingly not seeming like he could explode into violence at any point) wants to clean up the force. And it seems like it's just a matter of time.

This is pretty good as a companion piece to Training Day. In a few ways it is superior to that, in most ways, it is slightly inferior to it. The acting tends to be great. This is not an action movie. It's currently listed as being a crime-drama-thriller, which I agree with. With that said, there are a handful of tense and suspenseful scenes, and the climax is decent. It's cliched. The pacing is overall too slow, and is perhaps the main place where you can really see that Ron Shelton is not used to this kind of film. The fact that, despite fitting with the movies themes of corruption in law enforcement, ultimately the LA riots are background only, and that some of the depiction of the riots is problematic, is one element of this being exploitative.

This contains a little nudity and sexuality, and a bit of strong, bloody violence. I recommend it to big fans of Movies about crooked cops. 7/10

Dark Blue was one of those movies I saw the trailer for back when it was first coming out in theaters that I had always wanted to see. For one reason or another I put it off and I eventually forgot about it. Over time some fellow film fans said this was worth watching and deserves a look. Kurt Russell's character is mean and lovable. He's a dirty cop, but we're with him every step of the way. There is a little bit of Training Day in this but one could argue Dark Blue is dirtier and angrier. This is not a typical character for Kurt Russell, and it's one of his best films from the past 10 years. I was surprised I hadn't seen this back when it came out. If you love Kurt, action films, and cop stories than Dark Blue is for you. Overall a good movie.

Here's a decent corrupt cop thriller that has two exceptional things going for it. The first is an at-the-top-of-his-game Kurt Russell giving the kind of subtle, layered performance you only get from a pro; it would be so easy for his dark-hearted cop to be a caricature, but thanks to Russell he's far from it. Russell is one of those actors who make a lot of lightweight fare (BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, etc.) and whose genuine talents are sometimes forgotten about, which is a shame. Check out the monologue he gets to himself here - excellent.

The second thing going for this is the backdrop of the L.A. race riots in 1992. A simmering undercurrent of violence runs throughout the movie, from the casual violence of the opening robbery to the bravura climax. The atmosphere is frightening, a perfect match for the ruthlessness of the cops who think they're above the law, and perfectly realised.

Add in a taut script, a seasoned round of pros (Brendan Gleeson, Ving Rhames) and a fairly good performance from newcomer Scott Speedman and you have a solid, highly watchable drama.

As far as stories about crooked cops go, this is one of the best I've ever seen. A dark, violent thriller set to the backdrop of the race riots in L.A. after the Rodney King verdict, written by David Ayer. Kurt Russell gives the performance of a lifetime and should at least have been nominated for an Oscar. Great and terribly underrated film. 8 stars out of 10.

In case you're interested in more underrated masterpieces, here's some of my favorites:

imdb.com/list/ls070242495

1st watched 8/21/2003 - 7 out of 10(Dir-Ron Shelton): Well done good cop/bad cop movie that works because the good & the bad are basically caught in the same trap and some of the characters change from one to the other during the film. Kurt Russell's character is one of them that changes. He is bad with a capital `B' in the beginning. He's foul-mouthed, racist and doesn't care much for justice but wants to cover the good guys' behind whenever possible. He is totally believable as this redneck character. His partner is being taught to lie in what they call a `shooting trial' where they question the cop on a convict-shooting to make sure it was the `only' option. The setting for the film is a few days before the `non-guilty' Rodney King verdict in L.A., but this is only a backdrop to the movie's story. There is typical corruption in the police ranks but in this one, the star is involved in the corruption. Without giving away too much of the story, basically the cops are involved in another shooting and the partner decides to tell the truth which leads to other events that bring about the much-hoped-for ending. It's neat the way the filmmaker uses the Rodney King fiasco to blend in with the action of the story which kind of adds a separate element that everyone is quietly following as they do their jobs. The acting, the direction and the story blend together for a very satisfying and watchable movie despite the typical bad cop/good cop genre that the story is based on. Hooray for all involved on this one!!