RAMPART (M.I.F.F.)

Woody Harrelson stars as Dave Brown, an LA cop spiralling further and further out of control, as corruption and alcohol abuse erode his life away. Faced with departmental suspension after being caught on camera beating a suspect, Dave tries to juggle his work problems alongside his bizarre home life (living with two ex-girlfriends with whom he has children).On top of all this he takes a decidedly vague approach to what constitutes policework and finds himself getting mired in a situation he is unable to extricate himself from. It has a fantastic cast with even the smallest part filled out by an actor of high quality.  Amongst others it features Sigourney Weaver, Ned Beatty, Steve Buscemi, Ice Cube and Tim Russ (Tuvok from Star Trek Voyager!). But the main draw for me was that it was co-written by the utterly peerless James Ellroy, of whom I am a massive fan. His Underworld U.S.A. trilogy is jaw droppingly stunning, and as a crime author he holds his head high amongst the giants of the genre. Therefore I was very excited to see how his work on this film would turn out, and I was largely impressed. Dave Brown is a typically conflicted Ellroy character; there are no ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ in his books -  just people lurking in varying degrees of shadow, and Harrelson is incredible in the role. There are definitely sections in here that feel like they could have come from one of Ellroy’s novels, but unlike his briskly plotted prose, the movie takes a more laidback approach to getting to where it needs to be. Nevertheless, it is a gripping study of one man’s life pouring into the toilet.

M.I.F.F. Rating 4 out of 5.

IMDB: Rampart