In Rampart, Woody Harrelson plays the very definition of an anti-hero. His detective, Dave Brown, is a 24-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department. He’s a corrupt cop with his own rather unique sense of justice. The film takes place in 1999; a time when the LAPD was still viewed with great suspicion after the Rodney King beating that contributed to the LA riots and the Rampart scandal, where it emerged that an anti-gang unit of the department was steeped in corruption and over 70 of its officers were arrested on charges ranging from bribery to murder.
Scripted by American crime-fiction behemoth James Ellroy, Rampart uses the scandal simply as a backdrop to tell the fictional Brown’s story. Harrelson is on barnstorming form, proving once again what an underrated actor is with a taut, dangerous performance. Rampart is essentially the story of Brown’s downfall as years of corruption finally catch up with him and he finds himself the centre of all kinds of unwanted attention after being caught on tape savagely beating up a resisting suspect. As the systems he’s built to protect himself come crashing down around him and he starts to unravel, Brown is a truly intriguing character.
Unfortunately that’s all the character stays throughout the film. Ellroy and Director Oren Moverman keep their protagonist at arm’s length throughout, as Ellroy’s script only gives us tantalising glimpses at his home life (he lives with a pair of sisters, played by Anne Heche and Cynthia Nixon and has a daughter with each) and Moverman’s shaky, twitchy camera is content to follow him at a distance so by the end of the film we don’t really have any more of an insight into how he thinks then we did at the beginning. This and the fact that Rampart’s impressive cast, including Signourey Weaver, Steve Buscemi and Ice Cube, are mostly guest-stars’ who come in for one or two scenes each, gives the film the feel of an effective TV pilot. Frustratingly by the time the credits roll you’re left with the feeling that you’d like to spend more time with Detective Dave Brown and get to know him a little better.
Extras include an expansive making of which, frustratingly, gives you a more detailed look in the characters and the volatile setting than the film itself.
Overall Verdict: A slick, visually interesting but ultimately uninvolving film that is made memorable by Woody Harrelson’s ferocious lead performance.
Special Features:
Making of
Cast and Crew Interviews
Trailer
Reviewer: Adam Pidgeon