Brown's Requiem

Michael Rooker is an antihero private investigator, who gets involved with a nasty case revolving around incest and murder. Rooker is excellent as the boozing detective. Selma Blair is more in the background, while Brion James and Brad Dourif have small roles. Although the story is pretty straightforward, there are a couple of minor surprises. The bad guys seem to underestimate Rooker, and that often works to his advantage. The final showdown with Brion James is both exciting and satisfying. Character development is good, the pace is acceptable, and overall, "Brown's Requium" is entertaining, although at times the film is a bit confusing ....... - MERK

...Brown's Requiem tells the story of Fritz Brown, a private investigator and part time repo man who was at one time an officer in the LAPD -- and is currently an on-the-wagon alcoholic. Fritz is hired by an obese golf caddy who calls himself Fat Dog (MadTV's Will Sasso) to watch over his sister (Selma Blair) who is currently shacked up with a wealthy older man. Fritz soon finds himself involved in a complicated plot involving Fat Dog's murder, a former football player turned racketeer and the Internal Affairs chief who had Fritz thrown off the force (the late, great character actor Brion James).

I've not read Ellroy's novel (it's one of the few Ellroy novels I haven't read) but I understand it was his first. If this film is a faithful adaptation, then it serves as the filmic representation of the birth of Ellroy's signature devices: flawed "heroes," gruesome violence, perversions, sadism and a filthy Los Angeles underbelly, all of which are on display here. Star/producer Michael Rooker does a fantastic job conveying a character who strives for redemption and allows the possibility of it to pull him into a world of murder and depravity he was not ready for. The direction is tight, the mystery is intriguing and the film is littered with memorable bit roles by such character actors as the aforementioned Brion James, Brad Dourif, Lee Weaver and Tobin Bell.

Fans of film noir should give this one a go, as should fans of star Michael Rooker and author James Ellroy. It's not perfect but it surely deserved better than the direct-to-video release it received here in the U.S.

A solid 7/10.

The film succeeds at the most basic level: it creates a vivid lead character, and portrays a specific time and place accurately and memorably.

Fans of noir should not miss this undeservedly obscure rendering of Ellroy's first (and most autobiographical) novel.

All of these reviews worth their salt catch on to the fact that this is a great adaption of the book. What they fail to mention is that the locations in this movie really give it that dark, haunting feel that is the underbelly of Los Angeles. LA is not all bright, blaring sunlight and perfectly straight rows of palm trees. The city's most interesting aspect is hidden in its shadows and the film captures that look perfectly.

I watched this film on DVD and it was just a chance to catch Michael Rooker in the lead role of Fritz Brown, an ex-cop, repo man, and part time detective. Michael plays him with streetwise honesty and toughness but makes it believable and yet shows the weaknesses, and vulnerabilities and flaws of the character. I really enjoyed watching him play these kinds of characters and it's a nice change from seeing him not play a villain or a psychopath. This is an excellent film noir and the best I've ever seen James Freeland has done a brilliant job with this film. The beautiful music score in the opening and closing for the film just fits together with the sad tone of the character. Michael Rooker is one of my favourite actors and I think he did an amazing job in this role he is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood I hope to see him in more future films.