Rating: 
Summary: kurt russell back with a vengeance
Review: Fantastic film. Kurt Russell gives a dynamic performance as a crooked LA cop, forcing his partner to frame a previously convicted felon in order to solve a grocery store robbery/shooting.It isn't until afterwards that Russell discovers there are even more crooked cops in the LAPD worse than him, and the tension starts from there. The acting is in a class of it's own, both Kurt Russell and Ving Rhames give outstanding performances. It is good to see Kurt Russell in a great thriller again - this is his best movie since "Breakdown"!
Rating: 
Summary: Dull Blue
Review: Too bad too. Real potential. Balancing the actual story and then revealing the actual King case at the same time as the movie story was great. Ving was good. Kurt was fine. Kurupt was actually good also but everything else was hammy, silly, and overblown. The end was laughable, the relationship with Kurt and his wife was weak at best, and the overall script choices / direction is for the most part simply ridiculous. The partnership between Kurt and his young partner is better done in Training Day. The crossover plot choice is far better in Out of Sight. Even Kurt is better in Breakdown than in this movie. It was a fun rental, but just too implausible to watch more than once. Heck, I even enjoyed Unlawful Entry more than this, get that instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Cop Drama
Review: I thought this movie was well made. I expected more action, but it had a decent plot with surprising twists, and good acting. I recommend renting it.
Rating:
Summary: Great cast, implausible plot and a lousy script.
Review: Director Ron Shelton hasn't had much luck lately. A few months before the shocking failure of his Hollywood Homicide there was the largely ignored Dark Blue.
I really wanted to like this film, but despite a cast list that includes Kurt Russell, Ving Rhames, Michael Michele, Brendan Gleesan, Khandi Alexander, Jonathan Banks and Lolita Davidovich, Dark Blue is severely crippled by some very laughable plot developments and an abandance of unimaginative dialogue. The script ruins any possible opportunity for a good performance and Shelton's direction is heavy handed throughout. For a better executed look at LAPD corruption take a look at Charles Burnett's sober 1995 drama titled The Glass Shield.
Rating: 
Summary: The forecast calls for pain....
Review: As I watched the grim Dark Blue I thought "this is like a James Ellroy novel". There are many fine things about Dark Blue but if you believe as the folks at eBay say "People are basicly good" you'll be in for a big dissapointment. The movie does try to eek out a "nice" ending but the message is clear--Everything is NOT going to be alright. Suffice to say Dark Blue makes Prince of the City and Serpico look like the Rugrats movie. Let's just hope its just well written fiction--because, take away the pretty faces and it sure seems real.
Rating:
Summary: Atmosphere and tension help this tale
Review: DARK BLUE is another good cop/bad cop film along the lines of TRAINING DAY and is in many ways as good as that Oscar film. Kurt Russell gives a fully realized performance as a cop caught in the dire web of continuing a family tradition of being a policeman with the inherent pledge of faith to those in command, even though the cops in charge are on the take in the world of crime in which they live. Russell is strong, plays the 'role' expected of him from the crime perpetrators both without and within the police world. His new partner (a fairly strong role for Scott Speedman) is fresh enough to eventually see through the corruption and save himself from the cancer that destroys the others. Sopporting roles are excellent - Lolita Davidovich and Ving Rhames giving their usual sensitive dimensions to their characters. The only problem - and it is a REAL problem - comes in the sound editing and musical scoring. Even though this film is in English, I recommend you turn on the subtitles in order to follow the dialogue buried in booming hiphop music and muffled gangsta talk.
Rating:
Summary: An absolute tour-de-force for Kurt Russell:
Review: This was an intense drama surrounding police corruption which comes to a head on the day of the Rodney King beating verdict, turning South Central Los Angeles into Mogadishu, Somalia on a bad day.
>
There are as many as four different storylines going on all at once, magnificently paced and spaced to keep the viewer guessing as to how they will eventually meet (collide, actually); we are presented with a cast of characters that are inherently flawed, some of whom you sympathize with, some of whom disgust you, and then some that you want so badly to achieve salvation.
>
Kurt Russell makes it all work; it is difficult not to connect with his character as a result of the performance he gives. Ron Shelton has done a brilliant job (particularly considering that he's best known for romantic sports comedies such as "Bull Durham" and "Tin Cup") with a script adapted from a James Ellroy story, but the intensity of Russell's slow-burn-to-quick-fuse personality is the picture's finest asset. By the time the riots are in high gear you're struggling with him. And by the time he understands what must be done to save what's left of his soul you're cheering him on.
>
Ving Rhames would appear to be credited as one of the main personalities in this movie, but in truth his presence (undeniably powerful as usual) is more lurking than up-front; his view from above and behind the lines contrasts sharply to those of Russell's front line veteran. He has had better and more fulfilling roles than this, obviously cast (literally) as Black to Kurt Russell's White.
>
This movie shouldn't be overlooked if you enjoy a good police drama or if you have memories of Los Angeles during the Rodney King era. The soundtrack is equally impressive, drawing together a top-shelf collection of old gangsta rap that makes today's beats seem weak in comparison. For added realism the performance of the rap stars in smaller parts also works very well...but this movie is definitely a shining moment for Kurt Russell; I don't know who he's offended with his politics in Hollywood, but this movie deserved a heckuva lot more attention that it received. Very well-recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Look at Corrupt Cops
Review: "Dark Blue" is a film set during the time of the Rodney King verdict in Los Angeles in 1992. The story revolves around Kurt Russell, a crooked cop who preys on the "scum" of the streets. He has no problem killing people whom he thinks is not contributing to society, esepcially in South Central L.A. Kurt Russell teaches his young, impressionable partner the ins and outs of his job and how he gets things done - doctoring evidence, blaming innocent people, killing innocent people, the list goes on and on. It isn't until Kurt Russell's character realizes that his theories aren't what make a good cop and discovers that other his collegues are out to get him, that he finally tries to make a turnaround. Some scenes in this movie tended to be a little slow and you found yourself wanting to move along with the movie a lot faster than it was. Overall, it's a pretty good movie.
Rating:
Summary: Fails to Deliver
Review: The movie is played out against the backdrop of the LA riots in the early 90's, following the Rodney King trial, and centers around the corruption and nefarious activities of an elite police unit. Kurt Russell plays the son of a son of a son of a cop, who's legacy has always been shoot, beat or kill first and ask question afterwards. We see how over time he has almost unwittingly become buried under a veil of corruption, which he now cannot seem to dig his way out of. Dealing with inter department investigations, a new naive partner, and a failed marriage all add up to cause a constant self battle which is ultimately self destructive. Russell is actually very good, and the movie on the whole is enjoyable. Unfortunately, even the most innattentive viewer will have figured out how this movie will end after about only 20 minutes. It is a good script, but there is no real tension. The sleeve says "Will have you on the edge of your seat" which is sadly not true, the viewer never really cares about the characters, and one never feels drawn in or involved enough to really care about the outcome. One for a rainy afternoon only.
Rating:
Summary: Skip it
Review: Ugh. This is a rote, by the numbers, mind-numbing LA cop drama. You've seen the same thing done dozens of times, only better. The performances are lugubrious, the script is unremarkable. The basic premise of the film is that LAPD corruption was responsible for the riots in LA following the verdict in the Rodney King police beating case, and the film endeavors to show a slice of that corruption. The result is more of a lecture than a film, with too much emphasis put on hastily drawn characters with no apparent motivation for their actions and grandstanding socially conscious speeches that ring totally hollow. If you go into this expecting to see something on the order of LA Confidential, Colors or Training Day, you will be sadly disappointed. This film does not approach any of those on any level, except to appropriate something approximating their look.
| 
