Dark Blue

A movie that asks viewers to believe that during the worst hours of the riots following the Rodney King beating verdict, the Los Angeles Police Department would be spending time on a promotion ceremony for a handful of detectives, Dark Blue is a police corruption drama in which high-ranking officers are crooked for crooked's sake and not because they have anything to gain. Sporting imagined grittiness polished to a Hollywood high gloss, hard-edged dialogue meant to be disturbingly frank and nonchalant about corruption and use of excessive police force (but seems to have all its shock value over-rehearsed right out of it), and a story stamped from a well-worn template, Dark Blue centers around a hard-drinking rogue cop (Kurt Russell) with marital problems and a violent streak, and his academy-fresh partner (Scott Speedman), who has yet to lose his ideals on the harsh streets of South Central. Full of mock complexities and a one-dimensional undercurrent of strained race relations, any possible potency in David Ayer's (Training Day) script is lost in the superficial showmanship of director Ron Shelton (Bull Durham). Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include both widescreen and full screen versions, audio commentary by director Ron Shelton, three “Internal Affairs” production featurettes: “Code Blue” (18 min.), “By the Book” (7 min.), and “Necessary Force” (7 min.), a photo gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a so-so film.] (R. Blackwelder)