Dark Blue
February. 21,2003 RSet during the Rodney King riots, a robbery homicide investigation triggers a series of events that will cause a corrupt LAPD officer to question his tactics.
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Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.
Am i the only one who thinks........Average?
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
This is an odd movie. I've seen it at least one time before, perhaps twice, yet I can't remember any details on this viewing. Kurt Russell is excellent in his role of the hardened veteran LA cop. The dialogue is sharp and to the point and not overly cliché for the genre.* Kurt Russell is among the ranks of actors who are like medieval guilds men, professionals and not too caught up in acting as an elite art form. He plays the gritty anti-hero in this perfectly, walking a tight rope of swaggering tough guy and someone working for the public good, which is more than you can say for his thoroughly corrupt superiors.James Eroy takes us into the now very familiar underbelly of the Los Angeles Police Department, this time on the verge of the acquittal of the officers who beat Rodney King to within an inch of his life. Russell's character, Eldon Perry explains that the reason the police went overboard on King was because they were denied the right to use a choke-hold on suspects. Pretty lame reasoning as the video pretty clearing shows that King wasn't resisting and there were a whole lot of racist cops hammering on him.So why don't I remember much about this movie after watching it at least once before? Compare it to Street Kings. In Dark Blue there are really no iconic action scenes like we have at the opening of Street Kings in which Keanu Reeves takes out the Asian porn gang or whatever they were.*Not being a cliché is hard to pull off as most cop movies sound exactly the same. They should give s workshop for would-be screen writers on how not to sound like that last 50 cop movies made. My guess is that the people writing most of these films do nothing but watch movies and never, ever read books.
Dark Blue is a film directed by Ron Shelton, a Director who has a taste of police dramas. Dark Blue is a film about a group of corrupt cops, with Kurt Russell being the lead, with Scott Speedmans character being the witness of these ubarable happenings. Dark Blue is a film which is definitely worth seeing, there is something about watching Kurt Russell on screen, not is he only a terrific Actor, but he is also very likable and captivating and they're aren't many actors like that in the world. Dark Blue is a slash between Antoine Fuqua's 'Training Day' & Dennis Hopper's 'Colors' in my opinion. Dark Blue is definitely one to see, though it's kind of a forgotten film to this day, when people hear about Kurt Russell, they never talk about this one, it tends to either be John Carpenters 'The Thing' (1982) or Tarantino's new 'The Hateful Eight' (2015) But in this film Kurt Russell gives a terrific performance as he always does.
For someone who saw L.A Confidential, Training Day or Street Kings, the plot would seem familiar, at the very least. Nonetheless, it was quite smart, without too many apparent plot holes and with a great set-up of riots in L.A.Kurt Russell was very persuasive in his role. His character of a corrupt policeman is easily believable. He has done it right. Not overacted and without unnecessary sentiments. He plays someone who enjoys being who he is; corrupt but not greedy. Smart and knows how to do his job well, but closing his eyes on the means. Very reminiscent of Kurt Russells' role in Backdraft. Very good deliverance.Brendan Gleeson was OK, but he could do more with his role. Scott Speedman was OK either. Didn't shine, but definitely didn't ruin anything. Michael Michele was sexy and Lolita Davidovich had a small part but she did it well.Now, Ving Rhames, Kurupt and Dash Mihok were awful in their roles. Not quite awful but really awful. They have worsened the whole experience. And I don't think that it's they're fault. They're just not fit for the roles they had been given.Ving Rhames was a total miscast. Instead of being a strong, powerful character he was just psychotic and nervous, and stood on my nerves as well. Kurupt and Dash Mihok, had a very crucial roles as the killers, despite their relatively small screen time. They played cold blooded killers but looked like a rapper and a clown. And instead of bringing tension only looked laughable. Very irritating performance from both.Despite the huge hole in casting the plot was well put through, Kurt Russell as the driving force was good and the ending is almost satisfying.
We begin with actual footage from the 1991 beating of Rodney King; the Black man was captured while trying to escape from Los Angeles police, then needlessly beaten by agitated officers. Next, we meet White alcoholic cop Kurt Russell (as Eldon Perry) nervously pacing in his boxer shorts. It's April 1992, when the city erupted in violence following verdict acquitting the police. Quickly, the action shifts to five days earlier. After getting off the hook in an unnecessary killing, Mr. Russell and attractive young partner Scott Speedman (as Bobby Keough) investigate the robbery of a small convenience store...The crime left four dead bodies and took an extraordinary amount of time, and Mr. Speedman thinks the story is more complicated. He's correct, but peeling the onion reveals more than anticipated. Events climax as the city explodes in riots. It's exciting and well-directed by Ron Shelton, but the "big picture" attempted by these parallels isn't artfully made. Russell is disturbingly convincing as the racist and corrupt cop, and Mr. Speedman does nicely as his conflicted ward; though they do look like a "Hair Club" ad couple, at times. Our corrupt cops receive good support, most notably from Ving Rhames.****** Dark Blue (12/14/02) Ron Shelton ~ Kurt Russell, Scott Speedman, Ving Rhames, Brendan Gleeson