Rampart

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Woody Harrelson has had a long, eclectic career and grown as an actor over those years. Once again leading productions after the huge success of Zombieland, this somewhat sombre affair comes from the same co-writer/director who helmed his Oscar nominated turn in The Messenger. Harrelson is superb, that is certain, but Rampart is too tonally and stylistically all over the place to really draw you in the way it should.

Set in Los Angeles in 1999, Harrelson is corrupt cop, David Douglas Brown, or "Date Rape." Filmed beating a man who crashes into his patrol car and runs away, the media heat quickly focuses in on him and he suddenly can't get away with the reckless behaviour he had been previously. At home his family life is just as fractured; two former flames (who happen to be sisters) live together, next door to him, and each have a child that he fathered. His gradual downward spiral gathers speed as the film moves on, and becomes increasingly desperate to hold on to his job and lifestyle.

There was a underrated Ron Shelton movie a few years ago called Dark Blue that offered a similarly despicable, but complex lead character. Where that film shone was the plot around said character (the impending LA riots), and supporting players who each had an integral purpose to that plot. Rampart is really about its protagonist and nothing else; Harrelson is on screen every second of this film and offers moral ambiguity and degenerative behaviour in spades. You've seen this type of character many times before, and there will be comparisons made to other, more notable films like Training Day.

It's executed with a looseness that should encourage more of an organic feel, but instead is over-utilised to the point of distraction. One scene features (a never seen again) Steve Buscemi and is shot with the camera constantly moving. But instead of being cohesive movement, it cuts mid pan which jolts you out of what should be an important explanatory scene. This happens quite a lot, as the experimental aesthetics undermine a dark character study that should've been more concerned with Harrelson's exceptional work.

Worth checking out for Harrelson's performance, it's ultimately far too disjointed to engage.