DVD Capsule Review

Dark Blue (2003)

More

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT Russell (left) and Ving Rhames are neither protected nor served by a police corruption tale that falls apart upon close inspection

Credits

Release Date: Feb 21, 2003; Rated: R; DVD Release Date: Jun 24, 2003; Genres: Crime, Drama; With: Ving Rhames, Kurt Russell and Scott Speedman; Distributor: United Artists (MGM)

C+

By Michael Sauter

In Dark Blue, Kurt Russell is bristlingly intense as a power-abusing LAPD detective who doesn't much care who he shoots as long as they're felons. He falls somewhere between Dirty Harry and downright evil, and that gray area gives him a compelling complexity -- that's largely wasted in a film that paints its portrait of corruption in simplistic strokes. Set in 1992, it uses the Rodney King verdict as a climactic backdrop. Yet against such disturbing real-life images, the melodrama in the foreground seems even less convincing. EXTRAS Three making-of docs might have seemed more substantial as one; director Ron Shelton's commentary will interest only those who REALLY liked the movie.

Posted Jun 27, 2003

More

Movie Review Dark Blue (Feb 21, 2003) | Lisa Schwarzbaum
News Summary An Italian American group sues ''The Sopranos'' (Feb 21, 2003) | Sandra P. Angulo
DVD Commentary Our favorite dystopian movies | Joshua Rich
The DVD Insomniac Don't touch that ''Thing!'' | Chris Nashawaty
Movie News News on Hollywood's upcoming films and projects (1992) | Christopher Henrikson
Reel World Reel World | Rebecca Ascher-Walsh

Add Your Comments

The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. You must have javascript enabled to submit a comment.