30 Second Bottom Line: This movie takes us back to a time that I'm sure some people would like to forget, but that no one can; April 1992 in Los Angeles, days before the verdict in the case that acquitted the police officers that beat Rodney King. We follow Kurt Russell in easily the darkest performance of his over-40-year-long career.
Story Line: Kurt Russell plays Sgt. Eldon Perry, a self-described "gunfighter who was raised by a family of gunfighters." His father & grandfather were both police officers in the city of Los Angeles. Everything he was ever shown or told about being a police officer¾serving & protecting, keeping the peace & all that stuff was, well, wrong. Perry only knows that the end ALWAYS justifies the means, no matter what it takes. Lying on the stand, falsifying evidence, unnecessary force, the whole bit, if it results in getting the bad guys off the streets it's justifiable in his opinion. That is Perry's M. O.
Perry's new partner Bobby (Scott Speedman) starts to open Perry's eyes, to question what all of his tactics have produced; not to mention the pressure being applied by Perry's mentor, Van Meter (Brendan Gleeson), to basically shut his mouth, turn off his brain, & follow orders.
The theft of a safe from a convenience store owner and the murders committed during the crime, by two small time crooks, begins to unravel all that Perry believes in. The deeper into the case he gets the higher up the chain of command he finds himself going to discover the real criminal. The implosion of his family, the pressure at work & his belief that if Rodney Kings' assailants go free, LA will revert to the Watts riots of 1965 lead Perry to sink into a deeper depression. Ving Rhames' character is determined to clean up the corruption he's seen in the LAPD & is more than happy to bring the net down around whoever is standing underneath it.
Tell Me More About It: This movie does something that I think a good movie should do & that's take you somewhere you wouldn't go on your own. In April 1992 I was about to graduate from high school in suburban Illinois, so it was interesting to get the street level perspective that this movie provided. The performances were very good, but I thought the script was a bit weak…left me wanting just a bit. If Daredevilis too much for you & you're looking for a grittier, more dramatic movie to see this weekend, you can put this movie on your list.
Rated R for violence, language and brief sexuality
DVD