Rampart.

Although by no means the last movie of 2012 I managed to miss in the cinemas, it is the last one that I currently own and is actually out. So from this point forwards, expect my 2012 backlogging to be more staggered, hopefully with more frequent new releases and some forgotten gems inbetween, enjoy!

As this is an indie film...I really don't know a lot about this and wikipedia isn't much help either, although it's won some awards and was a marketing failure, apparently - wasn't that informative! Okay, I know that isn't a whole lot to go on but let's dig into Rampart...

Okay first can we just take a moment to appreciate that Ice Cube is in this...thank you. Now with that out of the way, Rampart is based around the rampart scandal, something I had admittedly never even heard of until I decided to review this movie...it is basically a crooked cop movie set in LA during 1999.

Woody Harrelson plays Dave Brown, a chain-smoking dirty cop. Harrelson is once again playing the same role he always does - which isn't really a complaint as such, if a role is made for Harrelson you know you have some badass on the way. And honestly Harrelson's performance is the only good thing about the movie. Even being joined by a truly incredible cast can't save this movie, Harrelson is supported by many great actors, including but not limited too, Robert Wisdom, Brie Larson, Ben Foster, Cynthia Nixon, Steve Buscemi and Sigourney Weaver. So why is it still so boring?

Brown is an interesting character, because really, although 'dirty' he isn't a 'bad' cop. He may chuck a few scumbags around, which isn't 'PC' but who cares, they are scumbags and he shows himself to be a really decent cop in general anyway, he just learnt how to be a cop from his Dad, who was a cop from a different time. Plus the film almost makes it even more complicated, on the one hand you have the protests and the news stations hounding this way of policing while the coworkers of Brown cheer on and support his actions. This kind of on the one hand but on the other is the way the film manages to pussy out of making any kind of actual statement or message, Brown is infamous for murdering an alleged date rapist, something he is applauded for for much of the movie but before the movie is over, this is twisted and Brown is made out like he tore a family apart, led a woman to suicide and children to abuse. So if the film was trying to make us dislike Brown...it wasn't working for me, the film just felt like too much of a coward to just make a stance.

Basically the whole film just follows him bumbling around as he as his world slowly falls apart. He has an odd home life, a dark past and so on. The Rampart scandal provides backdrop, giving extra weight to Brown's archaic police methods, you can't go beating the crap out of suspects anyway, even less when the Rampart Scandal is going on in the background so he ends up in his own scandal but there isn't really any proper story here or any proper action, we just follow a character and the only action is over within moments, with the film more interested in the effect, than the cause. I mean seriously, man might lose his job, his act of police brutality is all over the news - it was possibly all a set up, but oh well sex scene! We aren't like an hour away from the end or anything!

Seriously, there is more sex and nudity in this film, than there is action scenes. I mean there are action scenes, chase sequences, but each one is a story point, each one has an impact, which means they are few and far between, to allow slow boiling resonance between each. I've never complained about boobs before, but this film is just so incredibly boring.

All things considered, the thing is well put together, it looks nice. There is some really interesting cinematography and editing in play, the camera moves in interesting ways, we get some good long pans, long takes, some great simulation sequences, scenes are cleverly lit, sets are well designed, all to make for a great looking movie. If only more happened in it.

So do I recommend it? Woody Harrelson's breathtaking central performance doesn't save the movie and the brilliant construction doesn't save the movie either, which is a shame because both is great, but Rampart is just so fucking boring it just makes it impossible for me to recommend, even with these things. Films about nothing can work if we are invested in the characters, but this film refuses to make up its mind about how it feels about Brown and so we can never make our mind up either. Avoid.

Think About It!

-Locke