Officer Down

It's always nice and refreshing to watch Stephen Dorff. He's one of the better actors, but does not have a really big blockbuster under his belt (Blade maybe, but that was a Wesley Snipes vehicle). This movie is also just a B-movie. But that doesn't mean it's bad! Quite the contrary, the story was so appealing, that quite a few good actors did sign up to make the movie.

Of course quite a few things are convenient and wouldn't stand the scrutiny of the viewer thinking too much about them. There is a morality issue at hand, but there is also or at least could be an issue with the ending. The actors involved have the charisma to just pull it off, but it still may feel cheap to some.

In Bridgeport, Connecticut, Detective David 'Cal' Callahan (Stephen Dorff) is a family man, married with Alexandra (Elisabeth Röhm) with the teenage daughter Lanie (Beatrice Miller). Cal has an unscrupulous past, drug and alcohol addicted, and he has reborn when he was shot by a drug dealer and saved by a stranger.

When a stranger meets Cal in a bar, he tells that he was the one who saved him and gives the journal of his deceased daughter to Cal. He tells to Cal that she committed suicide after Angel (Walton Goggins), a regular of a night-club owned by the drug dealer Royce Walker (Dominic Purcell) where she danced, beaten up on her and raped her in the parking area. Cal investigates Angel and when he sees the man in his car in front of the school where Lanie studies, he believes that Angel is a pedophile and Cal decides to take an attitude. But he finds that he is a marionette and someone is pulling the strings and watching him dance.

"Officer Down" is a good police story with a non-linear screenplay developed like a puzzle with flashbacks and plot points that keeps the truth hidden until the conclusion. Detective David 'Cal' Callahan is tailored to Stephen Dorff that has good performance and James Woods is great as usual. The conclusion with the redemption of Cal is a little disappointing and unbelievable especially considering that Cal has a family to support and certainly mortgage to pay, and spending five years in prison does not seem to be a second chance in life. He could have accepted the report offered by Captain Verona and turned into a good cop. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Rastros de Violência" ("Violence Tracks")

Police detective David 'Cal' Callahan (Stephen Dorff) takes down a rapist cop but his boss Captain Verona (James Woods) cuts a deal to sweep the embarrassing situation under the rug. Cal is still haunted by a traffic stop where he was almost killed. One night, a man, claiming to be his unknown savior, comes to him with his dead daughter's diary. Zhanna Dronov (AnnaLynne McCord) was a stripper who started dating a client called Angel (Walton Goggins).

I like the dark tone, Dorff's performance, and big revelation. On the other hand, the first half is too complicated, there are too many flashbacks, and there are too many characters to focus on. This movie should focus on Cal and his Captain, Zhanna and Angel. Cal may not even need a family. It should explain more clearly Cal's investigation of Angel. He should probably assume that Angel is Zhanna's pimp to start. The overall story just needs more clarity. While this is by no means great, it is good enough with that reveal.

Stars stephen dorff as detective callahan, a man with a past. When a bystander helps him after a shooting, he decides to return the favor. He reads the journal of a dead girl, and decides to do something about it. The whole film is a flashback, showing what led up to the opening scene. James woods is his police captain. It has some issues... the volume keeps jumping up and down. The script needed tightening up. Some editing mistakes. Some verrrry interesting tidbits in the trivia section, which may explain some things. And since callahan and logue look so similar, it's easy to get them confused. The basic story is pretty good, once we figure out what's going on, but it takes a while. ( the time lapse where we watch the night turn into day was actually pretty cool, at the halfway mark) its okay... with a little work, could have been better. Directed by brian miller. He seems to like stories about cops and killers. Story by john chase.

"Today is the day I die." Detective Callahan (Dorff) is a good cop with a checkered past. While out protecting someone he gives chase and does what he has to do, when the person he is chasing turns out to be a cop he wonders what is going on. Things begin to become confusing to him and he is struggling to do his job and fall back into his old ways. This movie starts off very exciting and gripping and stays that way for about half the movie. Then it starts to slow down a little. I think the problem with this is that it is a really good idea for a TV show but when stretched out into a full length movie they have to drag some things out and that really hurts the pace of the movie. This is still worth watching though and keeps you interested for most of it. While not amazing this is still better then most of the movies like this that have come out. Overall, worth seeing but would have been better as a TV show like "Blue Bloods" or "NYPD Blue". I give it a B.