Director Ron Shelton, who has fared best with romantic comedies set in the wide world of sports (Bull Durham, White Men Can’t Jump, Tin Cup), returns with an absorbing, cynical movie. It is set in the early 90s, portraying the era as a mix of 80s-style, hot-shot corruption and post-Reagan economic sluggishness.
The film takes place in the spring of 1992, as the cops accused of beating Rodney King await their verdict, which looms like a threat over Los Angeles. Sgt. Eldon Perry (Kurt Russell), a third-generation LAPD cop, is in the midst of coaching his rookie partner, Det. Bobby Keough (Scott Speedman), through his first shooting board hearing after the younger cop apparently kills a suspect. Meanwhile, Keough’s uncle, Jack Van Meter (Brendan Gleeson), an old-school, racist cop with criminal ties, is about to face off with Assistant Chief Arthur Holland (Ving Rhames).
The thrust of the story revolves around Perry and Van Meter, who represent the corrupt boys’ club of the LAPD, and their influence on the rookie, who can still escape clean if given the chance. Keough’s affair with Holland’s beautiful protégé (Michael Michele) only complicates matters, particularly when he and Perry begin investigating a racially-charged quadruple murder, which has a resolution dovetail with the announcement of the King verdict.
Russell, doing his first lead in a respectable picture since Breakdown, delivers a ferocious performance. However, David Ayer’s plot-heavy script makes Perry’s transition from crooked cop to reluctant hero feel rushed rather than organic. Rhames is wasted, Speedman lacks the physical gravity to compete with his seasoned co-stars and the great Gleeson (The General, Gangs of New York) can’t manage to give his blustering villain character more than one dimension.
For all its flaws, though, Dark Blue is a tough film with more on its mind than most police thrillers and it boasts an addictively gnarled plot. The climax, against which a fundamentally divided Los Angeles burns, exerts a real impact. The film’s vision of a police force, and ultimately a city, cannibalizing itself is memorable.