Rampart

Woody Harrelson plays a corrupt cop named "Date Rape" Dave (and for those of you still reading, we continue) who got the moniker not from doing so but rather for allegedly killing someone who did. He also lives in something one can only call a "situation" in which he married sisters (both at different times) had kids with each, divorced each and now insists that they all live under the same two roofs in homes right next to each-other. This leads to an awkward moment in which his daughter actually asks if their family is incest. Dave is also a cop that really likes to beat people down. Not just anyone mind you, everyone. Because he is not racist, he simply hates everyone.

The whole story focuses on Dave trying to beat a charge of victim abuse when a camera catches him beating the daylights out of a perpetrator that hit his car. All the while we watch Dave womanize, take drugs, smoke about two million cigarettes and try to get his two families to love him despite his disturbing life choices.

Despite the disgusting things his character does Harrelson actually makes you feel bad for him in a few fleeting moments. All the while you know he deserves everything he gets and more but it's hard to hate him when he is watching television with his youngest daughter and cannot stop smiling at the thought of her wanting to be near him. The film is also packed with small roles by big names like Steve Buscemi and Sigourney Weaver who spice up the film but don't really add anything memorable.

Harrelson makes the film watchable with an amazing performance and like a train wreck, is hard to take your eyes off. Unfortunately, Rampart is a gritty character study that is more repetition than self discovery. See Dave womanize, disgust his family, say shocking things, beat someone up, get wasted, freak out, rinse and repeat. He gets deeper into trouble with his family and career with each endeavor and never really learns anything from it. By the films end you realize Rampart suffers the same fate as Dave in that it's not going to change its ways and is ultimately headed nowhere. 5/10

Regarded in the trailer as "one of the most corrupt cops ever on screen," Woody Harrelson's character was honestly underwhelming. The actor did an exceptional job portraying a dirty cop, but was no where near the capacity of evil as Denzel in Training Day or Damon in The Departed. His portrayal was very real which is a characteristic that Oren Moverman appears to gravitate to in his films and while Moverman, in his second theatrical film, does a good job, it is no where near what he achieved in his amazing debut The Messenger. Harrelson did a fine job but he also failed to achieve the same greatness that he displayed in The Messanger as well. Some of the talented character actors in the film like Ben Foster and Sigourney Weaver deliver solid performances but aren't on screen enough make any impact overall to the film. It's a film that due to it's original limited release will likely struggle at the box office and moviegoers aren't missing too much in the process. I enjoy dramatic movies more than any other genre, but I found this film bland and the characters for the most part only OK at best. The actors did a good job but not good enough to make the film a success. There was just no wow factor in this film, which anticipated the wow factor being Harrelson's villainous performance. I'd give it a C in large part due to a broad and bland plot which could've been much better.

Rampart (2011)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Woody Harrelson gives a tour de force performance playing David Brown, one of the last dirty cops still working for the LAPA in 1999. He's a dirty cop who doesn't seem to realize he is one. He was once married to two different women, sisters, and now he tries to keep them and their kids in the same house so that they can live the way a "family" is supposed to yet he doesn't realize that a good family life isn't by having kids with two sisters. Brown finally gets in over his head when he's filmed beating a man and this sets off a range of events that leave him spinning out of control. RAMPART, written by James Ellroy and director Oren Moverman, doesn't tell a straight crime story but instead it really looks at a bad man and tries to explain why he's bad. I think the bottom line is that the film is simply trying to say that there are bad people out there who are just bad all the way around and it doesn't have to be for lust, money or fame. While I do question some of the directorial choices and I think a little more focus would have helped, the main reason to check this film out is for the wonderful performances from the all-star cast. Sigourney Weaver plays a DA tired of a cop thinking he can get away with anything. Cynthia Nixon and Anne Heche are good as the ex-wives. You have Robin Wright turning in a very effective performance as a mysterious woman who enters the cops life. Ice Cube is effective in his few scenes as is Ben Foster playing a crippled vet. We even get Steve Buscemi and Ned Beatty in small but effective roles. Of course, the entire cast centers around the performance of Harrelson and this is certainly yet more proof that when given the right material he can be one of the most raw and effective actors out there. Harrelson is so effective no matter if he's just listening or speaking because you can just look at him and see all the rage and emotion built up. I really thought the actor did a remarkable job at letting the slime slip out of this character without making him a flat out creep or going so over-the-top where you feel like you're watching someone fake. I won't spoil the ending but it's certainly one that makes you think about the events you've just seen. RAMPART isn't a flawless movie but the performances are so strong that it's highly recommended.

Usually when it comes to dirty cops, most people end up detesting them. But this goes in another direction where it sorta builds a slight sympathy for the dirty cop named Dave Brown(Woody Harrelson). Maybe because he only tries to hurt the bad guys and isn't in it for the dirty money nor does he physically hurts women. Even if he is a "power tripping, racist, sexist, arrogant schemer, and chauvinistic cop". He even probably cheated on his wife and he cheats on his taxes. In fact he is such a prick that even the LAPD force wants nothing to do with him and wants him buried. The thing is the whole direction and dialogue is mesmerizing, especially seeing how a dirty cop that isn't all sadistic and evil struggle to keep his family and his badge. Woody Harrelson is just great in this and his performance is captivating to watch. He does a great job of playing the detestable and hypocritical cop that is also methodical and yet his acting makes me have slight sympathy for his character. When he starts to fall apart after his brutality is caught on tape. If you enjoy dirty cop movies this is one of the good ones.

7.8/10

All four stars are for the cast. It's not their fault this movie is awful.

Harrelson is great. He's an engaging actor, totally believable. It's a shame the script isn't.

Harrelson plays a brutal, murderous cop who is caught beating down a black guy in the street. Yet his home life is ultra liberal, he lives with two sisters, with whom he's had two kids during separate relationships. One of his daughters is pushing boundaries yet Woody doesn't seem to challenge this, one of the sisters is an artist, again not exactly fitting in with the hard-line discipline Harrelson is dishing out on the street. He's immediately defined as a sexist, racist homophobe, yet we're asked to believe that he's knocked up two intelligent, lefty sisters, who are still willing to accommodate him in their lives, and indeed home, despite his lifetime of indiscretions and violence and that he's managed to split this work and home life without a significant issue developing through the life of the girls (the eldest of who is mid teens at least). The family dynamic could have been interesting but it wasn't explored at all really, it just got crammed in and thus didn't fit with the character at all.

The supporting cast is really strong and the acting is solid throughout but not one of the plots get developed and not one aspect reaches a conclusion. Obviously, this was done on purpose but if I pay to see a film, I want to see the whole ****ing film, not just half a story! Buscemi has about three lines. Ice Cube, who I rate highly, has a handful of scenes as an internal investigator, all of which are well enough constructed but end without any resolution. Robin Wright is great, foxy as ****, but again, other than to identify Harrelson as a paranoid womaniser, we get nothing back. Anne Henche and Cynthia Nixon play his former partners and both are well played again but they're just sketches of characters, as is Sigourney Weaver, also restricted to about 3 minutes of screen time.

Basically, it feels like the first, long, episode in a made for TV series. If that was the case, I'd certainly watch more because there is a lot there and the on screen talent is superb but as a stand alone film it's a massive let down and it goes absolutely nowhere at the end of 2 hours.

Oh, and the sex club scene is particularly pointless, if any such scene can be. It just seems like a random bit of editing that has shoved a half idea into an already over-stretched concept.