Dark Blue, 2002.
Directed by Ron Shelton.
Starring Kurt Russell, Ving Rhames, Scott Speedman, Michael Michele, Brendan Gleeson, Jonathan Banks, Kurupt, Dash Mihok, Khandi Alexander, Lolita Davidovich, and Marin Hinkle.
SYNOPSIS:
In the aftermath of the Rodney King incident in 1991 Los Angeles, a corrupt cop begins to question his methods as L.A. begins to riot.
Set during the early ‘90s, a period when social and racial tensions in Los Angeles were running high what with gang culture, drive-by shootings and distrust in the police filling news headlines, Dark Blue tells the fictional story of corrupt cop Eldon Perry (Kurt Russell – The Thing/Escape From New York) and his eventual redemption after he realises that his way of doing things to get results is not the right way.
Cleverly using the real-life incident of black man Rodney King being beaten by four white cops and their eventual acquittal which triggered the L.A. riots of 1992, Dark Blue wastes no time in setting up its main characters and how the choices they make are going to play out. When we first meet Eldon Perry he is acting as a character witness for his young partner Bobby (Scott Speedman – Underworld) who is in front of a board of commanding officers after being accused of using deadly force. It’s handshakes all round as Perry, Bobby, Commander Jack Van Meter (Brendan Gleeson – Lake Placid) and fellow top brass James Barcomb (Jonathan Banks – Beverley Hills Cop) clink glasses and celebrate Bobby getting off but Assistant Chief Arthur Holland (Ving Rhames – Dawn of the Dead) knows that it was Perry who pulled the trigger and not Bobby, and that this line of corruption goes all the way to the top.
Once Eldon and Bobby are assigned to an armed robbery where four people were killed and one left severely injured, things take a darker turn as the two perpetrators were working for Van Meter who assigns Eldon knowing he will frame anybody likely fitting the profile in order to get an arrest. But with the younger Bobby having doubts about his part in all this and his blossoming relationship with a senior officer consuming his feelings, and Eldon about to get a promotion as his personal life lays in tatters thanks to his devotion to cleaning up the streets, events are about to reach a head as the verdict on the Rodney King trial makes the news, which is not good for any cops on the street.
On the surface of it Dark Blue is a fairly conventional cop thriller that uses genre tropes and audience familiarity to fill in any gaps in the plot that pop up (it is very convenient that Eldon Perry is getting his promotion in a ceremony taking place the night the L.A. riots started, making sure that all the cops from that district are in the same room at the same time) but ultimately this helps the film move along at a fairly brisk pace without getting too bogged down in police procedural matters. However, what the film does get bogged down in is the personal lives and side-plots of the main characters; it doesn’t really matter about Eldon Perry’s personal life as his character is the type of cop we’ve seen dozens of times in various movies who doesn’t seem to want to be tied down, so whenever there is a scene involving his wife Sally (Lolita Davidovich – Hollywood Homicide) the film more or less comes to a halt. Sally is very much a non-entity, sitting on the sofa drinking while waiting for her husband to come home so she can scold him about his attitude, and even their son only appears at the end of the film just as Perry Senior has his moment to point the finger at everyone. Other characters have their own backstories that don’t really go anywhere and the at times clunky writing doesn’t do much to justify why everybody has such complex relationships that don’t really play into anything, and the 114-minute running time could have been trimmed by a good 15 minutes to keep that early briskness going.
But bloated character writing aside, Dark Blue’s shining jewel is Kurt Russell who gives a performance not unlike a lot of previous roles, where his natural charisma shines through some dodgy dialogue, but here he’s giving a bit more, making Eldon Perry feel like a fully-rounded character instead of being cheeky motormouth Kurt Russell playing the part of a dirty cop. His on-screen relationship with Scott Speedman is very endearing – Perry does clearly care about Bobby – and they have a believable chemistry that makes their scenes together, whether they’re laughing and joking or antagonising each other, seem genuine. Also, the moment Eldon Perry realises he has been left out to dry as he finds himself on his own in South Central L.A. just as the riots are kicking off is sold completely by Russell, making the fairly unexciting climax a bit more interesting as Perry confronts his superiors and his family. Ving Rhames feels a little wasted in his role of Arthur Holland, the ‘good cop’ against Brendan Gleeson’s ‘bad cop’, and although his motives and actions are made clear you never really get a full-on confrontation scene where Rhames could have had some better dialogue to work with and been really elevated. Gleeson himself has a few moments that he takes full advantage of and although you never quite get to the core of why Van Meter is so rotten there is enough there for the actor to play around with and his scenes with Kurt Russell prove to be the most entertaining.
Coming backed up with cast and crew interviews and archival making-of documentaries, Dark Blue looks fairly tidy without being spectacular but as it isn’t really an effects film it doesn’t really need a full restoration. The early ‘90s feel is very authentic thanks to the use of real footage of the Rodney King incident, and the film does echo the hazy look and atmosphere of other L.A. crime movies like Boyz n the Hood and even parts of Heat, but Dark Blue is not as technically tight as those movies. Nevertheless, the entertainment value is very high, mainly thanks to Kurt Russell’s brilliant performance, and as long as you’re not looking for something overly complex and can forgive some sloppy writing then Dark Blue is certainly worthy of being added to your collection of crime thrillers, should you have one of course.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
