This movie was infamous because of the "Reddit AMA" that went horribly wrong. I avoided this movie because of that as I followed it in real time. I decided to give it a try after all these years because the subject matter is interesting.
I can say that my disappointment was not unexpected. This movie is boring. It's 108 minutes of Woody Harrelson smoking and being a racist and overall terrible person. It's all expected and repetitive and just exhausting.
This movie should be called "Dave Brown" because it tells very little about the Rampart scandal which has already happened in this movie. The tagline is "The most corrupt cop you've ever seen on screen." Sorry... that title goes to Alonzo Harris in 'Training Day'.
It's a story that nobody asked for that is poorly portrayed.
Whoever did the cinematography on this thought they were way smarter than they actually are, breaking the line every 30 seconds and shoving in as many jump cuts as realistically possible. It's ridiculous. I thought this was supposed to be a cop thriller about the rampart scandal but instead it feels like someone trying to imitate Godard. I guess at some point I accepted that it was just a personal drama about a guy named Dave Brown and I started to enjoy it a bit more, but come on man.
In relation to the only other comment on this film, I was quite relieved that there wasn't some huge exposition at the end, as it would have killed the tensions that had been brooding throughout - you are left to come to your own conclusions as to whether Dave has to pay his dues or not. To my mind, it was fairly clear cut, but there is no need to expand on what I feel the natural outcome beyond the fade to black would have been.
Magnificent performance by Woody, and a great cast all round. No one does this source material like Ellroy, and while this isn't as conventional as his other work and lacks a satisfying Hollywood ending to satisfy the masses, it's a very high quality companion piece to sit alongside his broader (yet still kind of narrow) canon.
Haunting, bleak, depressing and as flawed in many ways as its lead character, yet still essential viewing. Not for everyone, but if you can stomach it then you will find a way to enjoy the experience if not perhaps the film itself. Don't take that as a criticism - our enjoyment was clearly not high on the filmakers' list of priorities on this occasion.
Shout by WillVIP OG 12BlockedParent2013-06-21T04:20:36Z
Poor ending. Way too much smoking scenes, gets old quick.