Movies Reviews

Rampart – Movie Review

By Ron Wilkinson Nov 28, 2011, 14:58 GMT

The film focuses on a single police officer during the late 1990s scandal involving the Los Angeles Police Department\'s Rampart Division.  ...more

A film test for Woody Harrelson’s commendable nasty character skills, “Rampart’s” fails to provide much healing to allow L.A. to move on.

Woody Harrelson’s latest is no picnic to watch, but the thrill of Woody is still there. He plays an LA cop, one of the pack that would eventually raise the disgust of Californians to the point of detonation.

The flash point of the population was not the result of yet another call for more prisons and more life sentences; it was a call for heads amongst the LA police department.

The issue was police brutality on such a scale and with such arrogant profligacy that even Los Angelinos were repulsed. As the1990’s drew to a close the chaos resolved itself into the “rampart scandal,” named after the Rampart Division, an LAPD working group focusing on street crime.

Given the subject matter it is not hard to believe that this film borders on the unwatchable. Still, if it does not win awards it will not be because of the acting shortcomings of Harrelson. He is as watchable as the film is unwatchable. He is as born for this part as was born for “Born Killers.”

The tough question is how he managed to reign in this radiating sense of sociopathic malevolence to play the good cop in “Battle in Seattle” or the wise and disciplined sergeant in the first Moverman / Harrelson collaboration “The Messenger.”

He was able to do it because he is one great actor. What is hard to figure is why he chose this screenplay, amongst the thousands he has access to, which requires him to conjure up such a one-dimensional performance.

Perhaps director Oren Moverman (who also co-wrote the screenplay with James Ellroy) gave him too much leeway and Woody just ran away with the show. Moverman forgot the great job he did with Harrelson and Ben Foster in “Messenger.”

That film showed both actors at their conflicted, tortured best. They had the worst job in the world, were not coping well, but still were able to have some fun.

“Rampart” simply has no upside. Perhaps this is the director’s (and actors’) shot at the LAPD. Perhaps it is their shot at perceived fascist authority, in general. In delivering that message they were determined to give it their all. Nevertheless, Foster’s part as the crippled, wheelchair bound “General Terry” hardly amounted to a laudable challenge for his immense acting talent.

Sigourney Weaver gets substantially better screen time as the beleaguered DA who is trapped in the devil’s bargain of defending the LAPD against the rabid forces of LA street crime while her most prominent officer is acting like a gang kingpin.

Great cinematography by “Messenger” DP Bobby Bukowski keeps the pace at a film noir fever pitch, without the tiresome car chases, gunfights and boring martial arts that mar mediocre cop films. There is enough street movement to capture the energy of big city USA.

There are also enough interior shots to bring the audience in very close to the claustrophobic suffocation of big city politics.

The film boasts an outstanding, disciplined and understated performance by Ice Cube as honest Internal Affairs cop Kyle Timkins who is charged with bringing Brown to Justice. Steve Buscemi breaks up Harrelson’s one-man show and contributes another one of the many commendable supporting performances.

Too bad both Buscemi and Ice Cube did not get a bit more screen time. It would have added some much-needed dimension to the show.

For all you Woody Harrelson fans out there - see this film immediately. The rest can wait for it on DVD.

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Directed by: Oren Moverman
Written by: Oren Moverman and James Ellroy
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster and Sigourney Weaver
Release Date: November 23, 2011
MPAA: Rated R for pervasive language, sexual content and some violence
Running Time: 108 Minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Color