DARK BLUE
Released: February 21, 2003
Though this movie opened to a tepid response at the box office, this is still worth checking out either in the theatre or on home video. "Dark Blue" is a story that's been around for quite a few years. Written by "L.A. Confidential" idea man James Ellroy and screenplayed by David Ayer (who also wrote the recent bad cop/good cop flick "Training Day"), the setting is Los Angeles in the days leading up to the verdict in the police beating of Rodney King. Starring Kurt Russell in one of his best roles, he is not the bad cop like Denzel Washington was in "Traing Day". Rather, he is the former good cop who has had to follow orders of bad cops he worked for. When much of the department is corrupt, it's hard to be the good cop. Russell's character knows this and when the opportunity comes to redeem himself, even at the expense of life as he knows it, he may have to do just that. Scott Speedman plays Russell's partner, in a similar role as Ethan Hawke's "Training Day" part, only much darker. Ving Rhames plays the deputy chief who could stop the bad cops in their tracks or take a job offer in another city. Ron Shelton, director of "Bull Durham", "White Men Can't Jump" and "Tin Cup" among others, jumps right into this project intending to flesh out the Russell character and give viewers the thrills and chills that provide the backdrop for the story. This isn't a pretty picture. The movie starts and ends with loud bangs. Right off the top we see some very brutal killings and by the ending the riots have started. The re-creation of the L.A. riots was very well done. To think that that wasn't a mere idea from a screen writer - it actually happened - makes it all the more scary. Like the way "Titanic" used a real event to frame a fictional story, "Dark Blue" uses the events of the Rodney King beating and subsequent riots as a setting for a story but the story is pretty universal. Where there is an institution there will be corruption. It's sad that this movie opened so poorly at the box office as it really is good stuff. See it for a fine Kurt Russell performance and those of his co-stars. Shelton is a good director and I'm sure this movie will fare much better on video and cable TV.
116 Minutes
United Artists/MGM