Rampart (2012)

Rampart, a James Ellroy story (he who wrote LA Confidential) about a cop accused of violent assault in LA during a time when the LAPD had pretty much the worst reputation of any Police Force in America. Woody Harrelson plays that cop, and he's pretty much guilty of it, and it's indicated at many times that he is guilty of much more than that. However, the police force is in a tight spot, as they are in dispute with the unions and therefore are reluctant to fire him. It's an okay idea, and Woody Harrelson should play the hell out of that role. So why did the film feel like a let down at the end of it.

It's not that the film is terrible, it's not, it's more that it contains numerous occasions that are a little confusing. His family situation for example. He seems to live with two women and two children. Each of the women is the mother of one of the girls, and he is the father to both; the two women are also sisters. Now, I get the whole keeping the family together, but why either of the women would have agreed to this is never really explained, and really left me feeling odd. The story isn't the only thing that is confusing about the film. The camera work too was sometimes just bizarre. In one scene when Harrelson is being confronted by the DA (Steve Buscemi) and the head of the Police Force (Sigourney Weaver), it's a stationary scene set in an office, yet the camera just won't stop moving. I don't know whether they were trying to create movement whilst the actors all stayed stationary, but to have the camera panning side to side constantly during the scene was very off putting.

Oh, on the subject of Steve Buscemi , I love Steve Buscemi. When you have Steve Buscemi in a film he makes the film better, each and every time. However, this principal can't really apply when you only allow him one scene, one scene which is marred by unusual camera work. He's not some bit part, he's not even on screen enough time to warrant that title, and I honestly believe that they could have used that character so much more and had a much stronger film.

At its heart though the film is trying to be a little too much. It's trying to focus on a father trying to prove to his kids that he's not a bad guy; it's a film trying to say something about policing methods, what works, what doesn't and so on. It's got what feels like a side story about a DA trying to clean up a corrupt police force, and in amidst all this, any real point the film may have gets kinda lost.

Woody Harrelson is great, as is everyone really. The love interest between him and the lawyer works, it feels pretty honest, his pain and struggles with trying to justify what he has done not just to other people, but also to himself comes across well. It's a shame that this film couldn't have been more. James Ellroy writes good stories, Woody Harrelson is a great actor, but somehow this film is weak and uninteresting for a lot of the time.