The Corruptor (1999)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

James Foley

Writer (WGA):

Robert Pucci (written by)

Release Date:

12 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

If you have a secret, he knows it. If you have a weakness, he exploits it. If you have anything good in you, he destroys it...

Plot:

With the aid from a NYC policeman, a top immigrant cop tries to stop drug-trafficking and corruption by immigrant Chinese Triads, but things complicate when the Triads try to bribe the policeman.

Plot Keywords:

Triad | New York | Police | Chinatown | Undercover

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Yun-Fat Chow	...	Nick Chen (as Chow Yun-Fat)
Mark Wahlberg	...	Danny Wallace
Ric Young	...	Henry Lee
Paul Ben-Victor	...	Schabacker
Jon Kit Lee	...	Jack
Andrew Pang	...	Willy Ung
Elizabeth Lindsey	...	Louise Deng
Brian Cox	...	Sean Wallace
Byron Mann	...	Bobby Vu
Kim Chan	...	Benny Wong
Bill MacDonald	...	Vince Kirkpatrick
Susie Trinh	...	Amy San
Ho Chow	...	Black Eyes
Olivia Yap	...	Tai
Lynda Chiu	...	Kim

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language and sexuality.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #36007) | Iceland:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Germany:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Germany:16 (cut) | Netherlands:12 (cut TV version) | Australia:MA | France:-12 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Chinatown, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

In the original script when Nick Chen walks in on Henry Vu being fed grapes in the bath, she was supposed to be giving him oral sex. Yun-Fat Chow said that Chen would not continue a relationship with May after witnessing this act, and the grape-feeding was suggested.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The NYPD does not issue Beretta 9 series pistols in any capacity to NYPD officers (detectives, plainclothes). The NYPD also does not issue shotguns to non-tactical units, such as detective squads or patrol.

Quotes:

Bobby Vu: [while watching TV 'Uncle' Benny hears gunshots outside and pulls a revolver out of draw just as Bobby and his hit squad kick open his door] Uncle Benny
Benny Wong: [defiant last lines] You think you can kill me?
[shoots himself]
Bobby Vu: We kill you anyway
[fires gun into Benny's body while screaming along with the others]
Bobby Vu: UNCLE BENNY! UNCLE BENNY! UNCLE BENNY!

Movie Connections:

References Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

Soundtrack:

Candy Perfume Girl

Misunderstood - A Great Film

The Corrupter is beset by expectations of Yun-Fat Chow in another John Woo flick. This isn't a John Woo flick (and I mean the old John Woo pre-American Studio), but it does evoke moments that are very John Woo/Yun-Fat Chow esque ala The Killer and the blind girl.

This film is a character study of Nick Chen and Danny Wallace (played very well by Mark Wahlberg) as cops that must make decisions that may compromise their professional and personal integrity, but the lines drawn are not as simple as that. The film really asks people under what circumstances is it okay to bend the rules in order to achieve results that otherwise would not be possible? Would it be okay to let one guilty person go in order to catch ten more in the future? Would it be okay to convict one innocent person in order to catch a thousand guilty in the future?

Danny Wallace joins Nick Chen in the Chinatown task group. Danny is forced to ask himself whether the short term actions, and their moral implications, are worth the long term good of the force, himself, and his family.