Story author James Ellroy and screenwriter David Ayer use the backdrop of L.A. in the early '90s for their hard boiled crime fiction. The cops who beat up on Rodney King are on trial, and the city is waiting to hear the verdict. In the days leading up to the verdict, a homicide investigation involving the L.A.P.D.'s Special Investations Squad (S.I.S. for short) is underway, and a rookie detective, Bobby Keough (Scott Speedman) is having a hard time being able to stomach the tactics employed by his less than squeaky clean partner, Eldon Perry (Kurt Russell), a third generation cop with an even more morally bankrupt superior, Jack Van Meter (Brendan Gleeson). A crusading policeman named Arthur Holland (Ving Rhames) is determined to find out the truth about this case, as well as an earlier one that Perry and Keough had worked.As directed by Ron Shelton ("Bull Durham", "White Men Can't Jump"), "Dark Blue" is effective gritty and visceral entertainment with a pretty good story that keeps you watching as it goes through its various twists and turns. The politically loaded subject matter does give it some resonance as well. Russell delivers one of his most electrifying performances as the morally compromised veteran who must eventually start to question the way that he does things. A fine supporting cast is impressive, as well; Russell's scenes with Lolita Davidovich (who plays his fed-up wife) are good at humanizing the Eldon character. Michael Michele is believable as Speedmans' principled love interest. Gleeson is excellent as always, but ultimately this is Russell's show as we see Eldon evolve over the course of this tale.Superb music, by Terence Blanchard, and cinematography, by Barry Peterson, add to the overwhelming atmosphere of this movie. It's enjoyable to watch from start to finish. Those movie lovers who are into this genre should find a fair bit to appreciate.Eight out of 10.

Let me set the scene of the movie for you. There are two partners(1 old and 1 young) running around town fulfilling the orders of their infamous, puppetmaster boss by any crooked means necessary. The older cop(Russell)--in turn and due to the fact that his boss used to be his dad's partner--is like a son to him. He takes the younger cop under his wing--in the same way that an older brother that reveres his father would. Basically, Russell defends that man's honor to the younger cop; even though, he knows what they are doing is wrong and he often feels guilty about the murders as dead bodies start to mount by their hands. When Russell's partner(who he loved like a brother) gets shot and killed and he finds out that this father figure boss is responsible(not to mention that the bullets were meant for him), he makes plans to sever ties forever. When you add in Russell's wife and son, the young cop's beautiful cop girlfriend and her convoluted past, Ving Rhames' watchdog investigations into the corruption and his equally convoluted past, family problems, and an ending that you will never forget, you have one of the best movies of all time. It's slightly soap operatic and mostly dramatic. There's a lot going on in this one; you won't get bored; that's for sure! Training Day(a cousin as far as movies go) is better throughout(Dark Blue is close), but Dark Blue's ending is better(Training Day is close, but that shooting scene is over the top). The language is a problem, tho!

Dark Blue is directed by Ron Shelton and written by David Ayer from a story by James Ellroy. It stars Kurt Russell, Scott Speedman, Michael Michele, Brendan Gleeson and Ving Rhames. Story is set in the run up to the Rodney King ignited riots in Los Angeles. LAPD officer Eldon Perry (Russell) is as tough as they come, he believes that it's OK to bend the rules if it means putting a bad guy away. But bending rules leaves a trail, a trail that leads to more corrupt cops than himself. So as he and his fresh faced partner Bobby Keough (Speedman) continue to come under intense suspicion from Assistant Chief Arthur Holland (Rhames), Perry's life is suddenly at risk; just as the city is about to explode.It's been said many times before, so I'll get it out of the way now. Dark Blue is very similar to Training Day (2001), the dirty cop based movie that bagged Denzel Washington another Oscar. What is forgotten or not known, is that Dark Blue was shot before Training Day. Written by the same writer, Ayer, Dark Blue sat on the shelf for nearly three years at studio HQ whilst the suits wondered what to do with the film. Of course, dirty cop film's have been many over the years, but both this and Denzel's movie are from the upper echelon's of the crime sub-genre, it wouldn't have hurt to have had two similar film's out in a short space of time, how many times have we seen it happen before? What it amounts to in the grand scheme of things for Dark Blue, is that it's unfairly seen as the inferior copy of Training Day. Wrong, because Dark Blue is the better movie.Opening with the infamous camcorder footage of white coppers beating the tar out of motorist Rodney King, Dark Blue sets a gritty tone from the off. From here we find our characters thrust into a city on the edge of chaos, chaos fuelled by the lead character of the piece. The link between Eldon Perry and the impending riots is key, Perry might not have been one of the actual coppers who lay down that beating on King, but it's his actions, and how he enforces the law, that forms the basis of badness that is inherent in this particular police force. The smart thing here in Ayer and Ellroy's story is that Perry is not a loose cannon egotist, he's a measured third generation cop, following in family footsteps and adhering to management policy above him. His family life is also very revealing, the makers including this arc in the film proves to be a very good move.Along side him is young Bobby, desperate to get on and be a name in the force, he's troubled greatly by Perry's (and his superiors) way of doing things. But is this the way it should be? Bad guys are bad guys, right? It's a neat vein in the narrative thread, one cop who presumes he's right in his actions, the other who hopes that his partner is right in his actions. Pitted against them is the restrained Assistant Chief Arthur Holland, driven by good, but tainted by a past indiscretion, he casts an imposing shadow over the corruption he knows exists around him. They are all well drawn characters, and with a punchy script at work, there's an air of authenticity about the movie. It may be treading a well worn genre path in basis, but it rises above most others because it doesn't soft soap its subject.That it works so well is primarily down to a towering performance from Russell. Playing Perry as fearsome and loathsome, Russell doesn't call for any sympathy: that is until he's asked to by the nature of the story. It's only after the film has finished that you realise he's given a three tiered turn, each one as believable as it is magnetic. Unfortunately Speedman is just too wet, underplaying it too much alongside Russell to the point that when he's called on for some dramatic thrust it comes off as second rate. Rhames is wonderfully sedate, while Gleeson (as always) holds his scenes with an assuredness, a presence, that few newer actors can match. Kudos, too, to Lolita Davidovich as Perry's wife, Sally. In a film that's thriving on machoness and violence, Davidovich brings a tenderness to her scenes with Russell, and it never once feels out of place.With a stronger story than Training Day, and arguably a better lead performance, Dark Blue deserves more respect and a bigger audience. It has the odd problem, such as the afore mentioned Speedman and the inevitable contrivances entering the home straight, but this is a tough nitty gritty thriller that's recommended with confidence to adult cinema fans. 8/10

About halfway through this movie, I realized I hadn't blinked once. That's when I knew that I was watching a really good film. Kurt Russell is no slouch of an actor. He was riveting. This was a well crafted cop flick where everyone seems to have dirt on someone else, and meanwhile, there are crimes being committed, and L.A. is about to erupt in rioting.The great thing about this flick is that it doesn't try to be more than it is. Which is just a very entertaining, suspenseful cop movie.Well worth a watch.Or two.