Don’t take ‘Dark Blue’ lightly

As I watched “Dark Blue” I kept thinking that it was a lot like “Training Day.” Guess I should have done my research first because the same person, David Ayer, wrote the screenplays for both films. If Ayer’s material helped Denzel Washington garner an Academy Award, can it do the same for Kurt Russell?

A veteran of the movie industry since childhood, Russell doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously and unfortunately, he never seems to be taken too seriously, either. Ayer’s script gives Russell some true grit and real grime to tarnish up that affable smile of his and it’s hard not to say “wow”!

Russell plays Sgt. Eldon Perry Jr. He was born into a family where the traditions of being a cop goes back to the rough and tumble early days of Los Angeles. If it was tough being a lawman then, it’s murder being one now and the combination of family expectations and a high risk job lead to explosive and deadly results.

The story opens on May 3, 1992, just hours before the officers who beat Rodney King are acquitted. A trashed out Eldon is stuck is in a hotel room pacing the floor. Something bad, real bad has happened and when he grabs his arsenal of guns and chugs back a glass of booze, it looks like something worse is about to come down.

The story jumps back to an earlier time and we see how Eldon and his rookie partner Bobby Keough (Scott Speedman) dug themselves into this desperate situation, which finally explodes as L.A. begins to riot. There’s nothing we don’t already know about in the story (corrupt cops, racial hatred, the power of greed to destroy). But the way Ayers tells it, combined with Ron Sheldon’s (“Tin Cup”) direction and Russell’s downright great acting makes it riveting.

James Ellroy, originator of the story upon which the film is based, deserves credit it too. Perhaps you remember his previous novels like “The Black Dahlia” and “L.A. Confidential.” The film version of the latter novel launched the American movie careers of Aussies Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce.

English born Scott Speedman (“Duets”), as Eldon’s partner, adroitly juggles gut-wrenching fear with the right amount of gung-ho naiveté. A confident Ving Rhames plays Deputy Chief Arthur Holland, a man determined to be the first African American police chief in L.A. The fine supporting cast also includes Irish born Brendan Gleeson (“Gangs of New York”) and Canadian born Lolita Davidovich (“Play It To the Bone”).

If Washington got an Oscar for his portrayal of Alonzo Harris in “Training Day,” Russell deserves one for his turn as Eldon Perry. This is not a film for the squeamish. In addition to the excessive violence, racial slurs are used like bullets to wound and degrade. Parents, take the “R” rating very seriously.