Dark Blue

It's been a couple years since DARK BLUE was released and since it came and went very quickly I'm hoping people have had a chance to check it out since then. Even though it's not my favorite Kurt Russell film I would say it's his best performance. A few people compared his role here to Washington in TRAINING DAY, I can see where some would do that but he's really making a totally opposite journey in relation to Washington's character. Russell's meltdown during the film's climax at his awards ceremony is a real nice piece of acting. Aside from Russell you have Brendan Gleeson playing a truly evil higher up in the LAPD. I enjoy villains that go over the top but it's also great when you get a guy like Gleeson who scares you with his realism.

It's not a perfect film by any means. It does stray into soap opera-like tendencies when it comes to the supporting characters played by Scott Speedman and Michael Michelle. I also would have liked to have seen more of the movie take place during the L.A. riots since that's an event in recent history that hasn't really been portrayed much on screen. The idea of trying to catch murder suspects in the middle of all that chaos is an interesting idea and should have been a larger part of the film.

I also prefer TRAINING DAY, and NARC for that matter, but I appreciated DARK BLUE basing the story around actual events even if they didn't cover that area as much as I would have liked. The one actor who I think got gyped in the movie was Ving Rhames. They just didn't give his character as much to do as Russell or Gleeson and they made the mistake of him getting sidetracked by his marital problems in the film. Still, I was glad to see Russell in a bit of a departure and he puled off the role nicely.

Liotta has always been a favorite of mine so I was hyped and happy to see his turn in NARC. Patric was the stunner for me in that film, he was always kind of hit and miss with me and to be honest I didn't much care for RUSH. But he came through in NARC.

While I disagree with your view of Russell in BLUE I see what you mean about the rhythm. The film should have started off as it did with the liquor store murders, then spent the first half developing the characters but dropping the romantic subplots. Finally make the entire 2nd half take place during the riots. Have Russell and Speedman looking for the 2 thugs during the riots, while Rhames tries to bring down Gleeson in the middle of the LAPD figuring out how to respond to the riots.

That's a fair gripe regarding Gleeson's character. A guy like him would probably be far removed from common street thugs. The comparison to the Gilroy character on "The Shield" is a good one, but as a TV show it's a little easier to set up a scheme like that over the long haul which is not as easy over the course of a 2 hour film.

Outside of the final speech by Russell I also really liked the sequence when he starts looking through the mug shot photos trying to find 2 guys to frame for the murders.

"You got a crime and you got criminals, and if you're meticulous enough maybe somehow you make a match."

Even though I do think there are clear differences between DARK BLUE and TRAINING DAY I will admit that Master P plays practically the same character in BLUE that Snoop Dogg played in TRAINING DAY.

Glad you at least liked Russell, Phil.

Still say if you drop the soap opera bed-hopping subplots and gave the riots more focus you'd have a much better film.