by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
By Rick Grant B
Rated R 109 min
*this article is web-exclusive.
When Serpico meets Training Day with The Shield’s antihero slant in this corrupt cops tale directed by David Ayer and written by James Ellroy. The characters in this drama are all twisted, but when the excrement hits the fan, even the good guy is as bad as than the rest. There are no redeeming characters in this scenario, just various stages of evil.
Keanu Reeves plays Detective Torn Ludlow, a vodka swigging killer cop who hands out his own brand of justice under the supervision and protection of his mentor, Captain Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker). Captain Wander leads a cadre of bad cops who take illegal short cuts, steal drug money, and execute cop killers or other scum they judge to be guilty.
Detective Ludow’s outrage at injustice fuels his lust for vengeance. Captain Wander uses his anger as a tool to serve his own interests, but Detective Ludlow doesn’t realize he is being manipulated in this criminal enterprise disguised as a police unit. Ludlow considers himself an avenging angel, but in reality, he’s a hired killer.
Reeves adopts a cold steely persona for his rogue cop character which is quite effective at characterizing Ludlow as emotionally detached. The scenes of Ludlow taking out two drug dealers and other scum are brutal and shocking. His former partner wants his blood, but in an ironic scene, Ludlow walks into a convenience store and two hitmen come in to kill his ex-partner. The store tape insinuates that Ludlow was there to setup his ex-partner.
Hugh Laurie (House) deftly portrays Internal Affairs Captain James Biggs who is looking at Ludlow behind the scenes. But, remember things are not what they seem and are magnified by director David Ayer’s intensely violent scenes that can confuse viewers to ask, “Who are the bad guys anyway?” Well, just about every character in the film has an agenda that doesn’t include the police rules manual. This cop culture runs deep with bloody revenge and paid hits to protect the complex illicit operation.
Ludlow goes to extremes so he won’t implicate himself in the assassination of his ex-partner. But he doesn’t realize that it doesn’t make any difference, he is only a part of the chain of command that runs the corrupt cop network. The obvious flaw in Ludlow’s character is why is he so naive and unaware of his role in the criminal conspiracy.
Still, the story is complicated and dense, which holds the viewer’s interest. Then, during all this violence, Cedric the Entertainer appears as a minor criminal. No one will accept Cedric as a serious actor, but he does get some laughs, which breaks up the high tension of the action.
Forest Whitaker overplays his character with unintelligible sputtering speech. Whatever Whitaker had in mind for his character’s persona, it didn’t work out. Toward the end of the movie, no one emerges as a likeable character. However, Ayer’s gritty dark action scenes are strangely appealing. The scenario touches a hidden side of the viewer’s imagination.
When we see these cops-gone-bad stories, we wonder how much of it is based on reality. The truth is there are plenty of righteous cops who do their jobs and obey the rules. But the evil side of the thin blue line is much more intriguing. Just as we are fascinated by serial killers, we are drawn to the corrupt cop scenarios.
The odd way this story resolves leaves many unanswered questions. But the law takes a heavy hit and good cops are maligned by the suggestion that corruption this extensive could exist for such long periods of time. But we know that as in the past, justice will win in the end.
Article Published in the April 2008 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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