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Plot Summary
Eldon Perry (Kurt Russell) is a
third generation cop in Los Angeles.
He is tough and ruthless and believes that the
end-justifies-the-means. His
job is to get the “scumbags” off the streets and he doesn’t believe
in taking any prisoners. He
is working for the Special Investigation Squad SIS and whatever his boss
says goes, no questions asked. The
departmental politics and power struggles are nasty where racism and
blackmail are rife.
Eldon
Perry’s track record gets the attention of a new Chief of Police who is
determined to clean up the police force…
Review
The story starts in Los Angeles
in 1992 just before the race riots that followed the court hearing over
the police beating of Rodney King. The
film incorporates the Rodney King affair into the film with TV clips and
footage of the beating itself, which is shown at the start of the film.
Against this backdrop the story is about corruption and racism in
the police force and out on the streets of Los Angeles.
It’s a brave film that
isn’t afraid to take a look at the nasty side of human nature but there
is an uneasy balance between the issues raised and the entertainment value
that the film strives for. On
the one hand the film is taking a look at serious issues of racism and
corruption and trying to build them into an ordinary bad-cop movie and in
spite of the real events of the Rodney King affair that are incorporated
into the film the story and characters are not realistic.
The dialogue in the film
certainly doesn’t ring true and there are several dodgy lines delivered
that just don’t sound right.
The best thing about this film
is the performance of Kurt Russell who does an excellent job of portraying
hardnosed cop Eldon Perry. It’s
just a pity that the story and dialogue don’t match up.
Scott Speedman plays Perry’s young police partner.
Perry and his boss soon destroy his idealism and innocence when he
gets tangled up in the corruption. Ving
Rhames plays the new African-American police chief who is trying to stamp
out the corruption in the force.
Bottom
Line: This is basically a
bad-cop story that offers nothing new and has too many silly parts.
Reviewed by Niall
Quinn,
Premier Movie Reviews 2003
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