If you’re expecting another “Training Day,” in which Denzel Washington played a corrupt LA cop in the role that won him an Academy Award, you’re probably going to be a bit disappointed in “Rampart,” a much buzzed about film in limited release to qualify for awards.
Washington, you may recall, was riveting as a rogue cop running his own drug and cash enterprise within the LAPD, and nearly as mesmerizing, Woody Harrelson will definitely be on the Oscar shortlist for his portrayal of officer Dave Brown.
Set in 1999 in the scandal-plagued Rampart division, the square-jawed, self-proclaimed “soldier in the jungle” Brown hasn’t learned the lessons of the 1992 Rodney King beating and ensuing Los Angeles riots. He is caught on tape, single handedly and in broad daylight, brutally beating a suspect who has the audacity to crash into his patrol car.
The assault – which is played endlessly on the local and national news– forces Dave and those around him at work and in his messy home life (he has two ex-wives, sisters to each other, and a daughter born of each) to confront the demons it unleashes.
Previously, we’ve been introduced to his M.O. on the job, intimidating his young female partner in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant by forcing her to eat some French fries in a game of mindfuck which he’s clearly going to win.
While Brown’s crooked cop is magnetic as the audience gets to know him through his multiple flaws and sexual magnetism– he has no trouble getting multiple women at his local bar sleep with him– that relationship with the partner is quickly dropped and you never see her again. Which is a shame, because she could have been a great storytelling device.
Instead of a tight, dramatic, suspenseful story like the aforementioned “Training Day,” or a period piece like “L.A. Confidential,” “Rampart” is more of an impressionistic, noir-in-bright-sunlight take on a deviant personality whose bad behavior within the LAPD is condoned until it can simply no longer be contained.
The story, written by director Oren Moverman and crime lit maestro James Ellroy, left us longing for much more cop/corruption/detective action–the kind that nearly makes you jump out of your seat.
Instead, we got some additional suspense in the form of an excellent, heavyweight supporting cast including Sigourney Weaver, Steve Buscemi, Cynthia Nixon, Anne Heche, Ned Beatty and Ben Foster, who also starred with Harrelson in Moverman’s “The Messenger.”
Rampart, Rated R, Running Time 1:52
Directed by Oren Moverman, written by Moverman and James Ellroy
TAR Rating: 3.5 Stars
