Dir.
Ron Shelton, 2002, US/Ger, 118 mins
Cast:
Kurt Russell, Scott Speedman, Michael Michele, Brendan Gleeson, Ving Rhames
Coming from a long line of Los Angeles policemen, Eldon Perry (Kurt Russell) is an archetypal hard drinking cop from the old school. He won't think twice about gunning down a criminal in cold blood and then falsifying the evidence as a formality. He works in the elite SIS (Special Investigations Squad) with his young, attractive and innocent partner Bobby Keough (Scott Speedman). Keough's uncle is the corrupt Head of Department Jack Van Mete (Brendan Gleeson) who also likes his liquor and regularly abuses Perry's loyalty to the force for his own Machiavellian machinations. Pitted against them in race as well as morality is the idealistic Assistant Chief Holland (Ving Rhames) who is determined to clean up the force and be the first Black Police Chief of Los Angeles. And of course there is the ubiquitous love interest Police Sergeant Beth (Michael Michele). Does any of this sound familiar? Yes? Dark Blue is swarming with cop character clichés and as a result this film faces an uphill struggle from the start.
Perry and his partner Keough are called out to an extremely violent quadruple homicide, and what should be a routine investigation steers them on a dangerous, though somewhat inevitable journey. Over the next four days we see their lives fall apart as they uncover more than they bargained for. The story is set against the backdrop of the Los Angeles riots that followed the acquittal of the white police officers accused of the Rodney King beatings. Although successful in underscoring the tension in the story, what could be an opportunity to mirror America's present ailments comes across for the most part as dated and irrelevant. Perhaps this is due to the painstaking and chronologically accurate production design as much as the personal and almost apolitical story.
Russell - when the cinematographer lets us see the whites of his eyes - manages some superb moments with Perry that briefly bring him to life and swirling out of the hackneyed world he inhabits. Perry comes across as genuine and true to himself, but he is so disagreeable, that hard as Russell tries it is a struggle to empathise with him, even in his final moment of transcendence. There is a quiet power to the dependable Rhames's stern Holland, but nothing more. In contrast Michael Michele excels; she is plainly underused as Beth, and in her relationships with both Keough and Holland offers us an emotional doorway into the film that Speedman never manages with Keough alone. Ron Shelton's directing can be blunt. Just in case the audience is unable to discern the gravity of the moral choices the characters face for themselves, there are helpful cut-aways to young children, their frightened faces peeking out from behind curtains. The syrupy score doesn't help either, much to the detriment of the actors' performances. At its best though, Dark Blue wrings tension from the predictable plot twists and with some perseverance you can learn to care about Russell's character, and may just want to follow him on his dark journey to the end credits.
Gavin Bush
|
