| . |
Dark Blue
(Reviewed January 22, 2003)
-
Okay, maybe I'm being unfair, but this dreadfully directed bad-cops melodrama is the reason I never watch TV shows such as "Law and Order." I always expect those series to be exactly as intensely dopey as this movie, full of perps being roughly rousted and soap-operatic personal relationships and The Man somehow being responsible for everything that's wrong with the world.
Kurt Russell is a corrupt cop who is under the thumb of a much more corrupt supervisor. He is busily corrupting his wet-behind-the-ears new partner during the days before the Rodney King verdict came down. The movie ends during the riots that ensued after the cops who beat King were acquitted, which comes off as a pretty tacky plot device, sort of like ending a domestic drama with the collapse of the Twin Towers.
"Dark Blue" director Ron Shelton's 1999 debacle "Play It to the Bone" was much, much worse than this, but that's not much of a recommendation. The story is by James Ellroy, probably best known for writing the ridiculously overrated "L.A. Confidential."
Save your eight bucks and watch TV instead of shelling out for this made-for-cable-looking dud. There's probably some version of "Law and Order" playing right now. The damned thing seems to be on every night of the week, insidiously keeping people too scared to leave their houses and guaranteeing they will watch more TV. Insidious, no?
Back Row Grade: F
(Return to index by closing this window)
|
. |