'Rampart' (11)

'Rampart' (R) (11) (3 1/2 STARS)

Writers: James Ellroy and Oren Moverman
Director: Oren Moverman
Actors: Woody Harrelson, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Foster, Cynthia Nixon, Steve Buscemi, Robin Wright, Ned Beatty, Ice Cube

I love what Woody Harrelson has been doing with his last two serious character studies with director Oren Moverman. They are making quite the compelling duo with their first powerful collaboration "The Messenger" and now "Rampart". Woody Harrelson plays L.A. cop Dave Brown who is quite a piece of work. This is the dirtiest of dirty cops and Harrelson gives another career performance that is subtle and powerful and could have been Oscar caliber.

Harrelson's Dave Brown does something horrible to a suspect and it is caught on camera. The District Attorney's office has been trying to catch him in the act for awhile now and Dave has done a number of dirty things that can't be proven in his past. Dave is an old school cop who is rough, has no moral center and thinks it is only his way even if it is the wrong way. He lives with two ex wives who are sisters and there are two daughters also. Not only is Dave a morally bankrupt cop he is also not a good husband or father obviously. This is a movie that has a lot of police corruption but there are not a lot of impact moments. This is more of a character study of this officer and man and I appreciated that.

I have seen a lot of movies about dirty cops but what makes this movie special and different is Woody Harrelson's pitch perfect performance and that the movie is not just about police work. My favorite scenes are when Dave is at home and interacting with his kids and ex wives. I also love two scenes where Dave smooth talks two women into bed and one he will have a distorted relationship with. The women are played by the beautiful Robin Wright and Audra MacDonald and they are both excellent. Dave also has an interesting relationship with an old mentor played by Ned Beatty.

Dave can't do anything right and his World is closing in on him. Harrelson captures Dave's abrasive personality but also his desperation at the end flawlessly. There are also some nice scenes between Dave and a Internal Affairs agent played by Ice Cube in his most relaxed and assured performance since "Boyz n' the Hood". What I also loved about the movie and Harrelson's performance is how Harrelson actually makes us root for Dave sometimes. As Dave always tells it he has never hurt good people, he just s hurt bad people that deserved it but is he really speaking the truth? You actually feel for Dave when he is with his daughters and you feel he wants to reach out to them. We can see his heart breaking and we feel something for Dave even though he is a jerk and that is thanks to Harrelson's perfect, compelling performance.

Harrelson and Moverman worked together on a haunting and powerful movie called "The Messenger". Harrelson was amazing in that movie and he is even more amazing in "Rampart". They seem to be perfect together and based on these movies they have an assured rapport with each other. I would love to see them make a plethora of movies together and I hope to see them continue. Woody Harrelson, in my opinion, should have been more seriously considered for an Oscar nomination. This is a masterful performance and a lot of people have not seen it yet but if you like Harrelson I guarantee you will be blown away by his performance.

This is not a movie that everyone will embrace because the main character does a lot of bad things. This is also not a movie that is intense every minute but when it hits with intensity in small moments it hits hard. This is a slow moving film and requires patience. To me it could have edited some stuff out but I was mesmerized by Harrelson's performance and would watch the movie again and again just for him. This is a outstanding character study and I found it fascinating at it's look at a complicated cop and warped family man. This movie reminded me of my favorite televison series about police called "The Shield". If you loved that television show, one of the ten best dramas ever on television, you should love "Rampart". This is one of the most compelling and intriguing dramas about police corruption I have seen in awhile.