Rating: R
Genre:
Crime
Theatrical Release: 02/21/2003(USA)
Release Date: 06/24/2003
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French/Espanol
Sound: DD5.1/DDS
Run Time: 118 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Adult Language, Sexual Situations
Distributor/Studio: MGM
A cop's personal code of justice begins to change after a number of incidents lead his city to a tragic wave of violence in this
police drama.
Eldon Perry (
Kurt Russell) is a veteran cop with the LAPD's Special Investigations unit, a man who isn't above bending the law if it means putting people behind bars who deserve the treatment. As Los Angeles waits on the verdict in the
Rodney King police beating trial,
Perry is presenting testimony to
Assistant Chief of Police Arthur Holland (
Ving Rhames), who is well aware of the corruption in the SIS unit and wants to stop it.
Perry, however, twists some facts as he speaks in the defense of his new partner,
Bobby Keough (
Scott Speedman), who is being investigated for inappropriate use of deadly force. For lack of honest testimony,
Keough is let off the hook, and soon he and
Perry have a new case to investigate -- a robbery at a liquor store than turned into a quadruple homicide.
Perry and
Keough quickly track down two likely suspects,
Orchard (
Kurupt) and
Sidwell (
Dash Mihok), but
Perry is surprised when the head of SIS,
Van Meter (
Brendan Gleeson), tells him to let
Orchard and
Sidwell go, and instead points the finger at two ex-cons who should be taken off the street, even though they're innocent of this crime.
Perry follows
Van Meter's orders, despite
Keough's misgivings, but in the wake of the L.A. riots,
Perry has a change of heart, and decides to start working with
Holland against
Van Meter's corrupt methods. In the midst of it all,
Perry is trying to hold together his troubled marriage to
Sally (
Lolita Davidovich), while
Keough finds himself romancing a fellow officer,
Beth (
Michael Michele).
Dark Blue was adapted from an original screenplay by noted crime novelist
James Ellroy; originally set against the backdrop of the 1965 Watts riots, the story was later updated to 1992.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
;)
