Category Archives: Police Story

2012, Basically Sad, Chase film, Clever Plot, Crime, Crude Talk, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Motorcycles, Police Corruption, Police Story, Talking Heads, Violent

The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

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From Netflix:

Luke is a professional motorcycle rider who turns to bank robberies to support his newborn son, but when he crosses paths with a rookie police officer, their violent confrontation spirals into a tense generational feud.

By this time (2012) in their lives 32 year old Ryan Gosling and 37 year old Bradley Cooper may well be in their young adult film prime. Each already has a long list of credits. Of the two, Gosling can better play more eccentric roles as he does here in this film, although he belongs to that school of acting which promotes the idea “The less you say the better, let the audience think the thoughts that you should be having in this particular scene”. Call it the silent meditation school of acting. Cooper is a more direct actor. In a certain sense the acting style is often a natural and very real “talking heads”, but the story line is so good that it all works together.

Good writing and plotting has produced a story with two parts: Part One portrays the events that affect the lives of the characters in Part Two, fifteen years later. Without giving much away (plot is paramount in this film), Gosling and Cooper are crook and cop, each with a son Jason and AJ respectively. Interaction between the fathers early in their lives has strong repercussions later in the lives of the sons. Dane DeHaan (as Jason) and Emory Cohen (as AJ) did fine jobs as lost teenagers.

All that I feel that I must tell you is: Do not expect a happy ending. Century 21 is the century of unresolved conflicts.

2012, Crime, Drama, Dysfunctional Lives, Explicit sex, Gritty, Love Story, Murder Investigation, Nothing special, Nudity, Police Story, Suspense, Violent

Deadfall (2012)

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Netflix:

On the run after a casino heist, siblings Addison and Liza split up. When Liza gets a ride from a prison parolee heading to his parents’ home for Thanksgiving, unexpected events lead the two families toward a collision in this suspenseful thriller.

You might expect good things from a film in which Kris Kristofferson, Sissy Spacek, Olivia Wilde, and Treat Williams appear. In fact the film offered a good plot, good acting and well-done suspense. Note that the film is violent and gritty.

Essentially the story brings together a brother and sister who recently robbed a casino, a young man Jay recently released from jail but estranged from his father who together with his wife expects his son for Thanksgiving, and a young woman police officer whose police captain father does not respect her choice of career even though she is very competent. Eventually they all converge at the Thanksgiving dinner table with lots of guns in sight.

Liza and Jay’s falling in love is unrealistic. Jay could possibly be a better actor. Nevertheless …

Really not bad at all.

2002, British Mystery Series, Could Be Hard To Watch, Dark, Detective, Disturbing Image, DO NOT MISS, FilmReview, Grim, Gritty, Murder Investigation, Occasional gore, Police Story, Sadism, Serial Killer, Stalker, Suspense, Torture, Transexual Theme, Violent

Wire in the Blood (2002)

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CHANGE OF STREAMING SOURCE:

Now you can stream 6 episodes NOT from Netflix but now from Acorn TV, which makes sense because Acorn TV shows only entertainment from the worldwide British empire.

The review below is still valid and a warning. However in Season 4 and forward, Herminone Norris is no longer in the episodes.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

From NetFlix:

This tense British crime series follows the work of Dr. Tony Hill (Robson Green), a psychologist with a peculiar talent for understanding how serial killers think and for using that knowledge to help law enforcement apprehend them. Partnered with a detective from the local police department’s Major Incident Team, Hill finds himself on the trail of killers ranging from vigilantes and snipers to rapist-murderers, twisted suicide cults and more.

Through NetFlix streaming or DVDs you can see this British detective TV series.

Some of the episodes are ugly. You might even want to skip the very first episode because it shows sadistic torture. Later episodes refer back only slightly to preceding episodes, but that is not important.

Why watch the series at all? With each British detective series that I watch I find that the stories are tensely engaging, well written, and well acted but also usually very grim and explicit. One exception that comes to mind is Pie in the Sky in which there is never a murder. Also the crimes in Midsomer Murders are never hard to watch.

Two actors carry the series:

  • Robson Green appears exclusively in (zillions of) British TV series. If you are a British TV fan you will recognize him immediately. His character, Dr. Tony Hill, seems a little too smart to be true.
  • Hermione Norris (DCI Carol Jordan) appeared in a great many episodes of MI-5.

You have been warned that certain scenes are brutal. Other than that, this is another great British detective TV series.

Could Be Hard To Watch, Could Be Sad, Crime, Crude Talk, Disturbing Image, DO NOT MISS, Drugs, Explicit sexual discussion, French, Gangs, Gay theme, Grim, Limburgish, Nudity, Police Story, Psychological Drama, Race Relations, Revenge, Unusual, Violent

Bullhead (2011)

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From NetFlix:

Tortured by his past and despairing of his stultifying present life, Belgian cattle farmer Jacky becomes entangled in a violent web of deceit involving local mobsters and determined policemen after he uses illegal growth hormones on his herd.

Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts is the perfect choice to play the sadly damaged character Jacky Vanmarsenille in this film spoken in Limburgish and French. His facial expressions capture Jacky’s shame, longing, loneliness, shyness, and rage. To say why he feels these emotions would be a major spoiler. Through a series of flashbacks you learn his past history. Expect some very violent scenes.

Although you may find all the crime details confusing, they really are not very original or important. Jacky is important along with those characters associated with his tragic life.

Much of the violence stems from traditional racial hatreds between the many distinct communities, each with its own language.

Bullhead was on the 2012 list of Best Foreign Language Film of the Year.

In retrospect, the ending chosen for the story is quite probably the only possible conclusion.

If you can accept the sadness, violence, and somewhat brutish characters,

DO NOT MISS THIS FILM!

2012, Crime, Detective, Frenetic, Police Story, Suspense, Violent

Man on a Ledge (2012)

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From NetFlix:

When fugitive ex-cop Nick Cassidy steps onto a window ledge high above a busy Manhattan street, police psychologist Lydia Anderson tries to talk him down. But soon Anderson suspects that there’s more to Cassidy’s stunt than meets the eye.

Despite the fact that many of the action shots are impossible, this raucous sequence of one stunt after another is just fun. Impossible you say? For one example, how can our hero (Sam Worthington who played the lead in “Avatar”) stand for hours on a ledge and then climb by his finger tips from one floor to the roof? How can our hungry hero leap from ledge to ledge? How did our hero manage in prison to plan an incredibly detailed heist?

Along the way we meet

  • Jamie Bell (who was “Billy Elliot”) as our hero’s brother
  • Edward Burns (“The Lynch Pin”) as one of the very few honest cops in the film
  • Titus Welliver (Glen Childs of “The Good Wife”) as a bent cop
  • Elizabeth Banks (Avery Jessup of “30 Rock”) costars as another honest cop
  • Kyra Sedgwick (“The Closer”) as a reporter
  • Ed Harris (huge number of films) as the villain

Just suspend disbelief and enjoy the fun.

2011, Bullying, Crime, Detective, Dysfunctional Lives, Police Story, Sex Scenes, Violent

Rampart (2011)

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From NetFlix:

Dave Brown is a dirty cop with a mile-wide mean streak. As he roams the streets meting out “justice,” the LAPD sinks into a corruption scandal. The countdown to Brown’s judgment is on in this fact-based film co-written by crime novelist James Ellroy.

Have you ever known someone who is “never wrong”? Let me introduce you to Dave Brown (known affectionately as “date rape”). Each day of Dave’s life he sinks just a bit lower into bullying, corruption, murder, etc. Whenever the LAPD tries to restrain him and avoid scandal, he can deliver the most inventive self-justifying excuses you have ever heard. His twisted eloquence is actually entertaining. Unfortunately he more or less believes what he says. His usual inquisitor is Sigourney Weaver with whom I usually associate “aliens” (but in this case the “alien” is our friend Dave).

Woody Harrelson’s performance is excellent. But is it really entertaining to watch a defiantly corrupt man’s life go down the toilet ?

2000, British Mystery Series, Could Be Hard To Watch, Detective, Disturbing Image, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Grim, Gritty, Occasional gore, Police Story, Serial Killer, Suspense, TV Series, Violent, Wonderful acting

Without Motive (2000)

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From NetFlix:

Jack Mowbray is a dedicated police officer and a devoted family man. When a vicious serial killer terrorizes Bristol, England, Jack’s obsessive attitude toward the case may nab the culprit while also tearing apart his personal life.

This British TV series comes in 4 discs. Each disc contains 2 episodes. Discs 1 and 2 are one complete story. Discs 3 and 4 are another complete story.

Watching the first story is a bit harrowing. But in fact my experience in general is that British mystery, or suspense, or MI-5 adventures are all tough to watch. Characters get killed. Marriages run into difficulties because of the obsessive attention to crime solving by one of the marriage partners. Some scenes are especially gory. Some characters are really nasty.

Acting in general is almost always professional and wonderful, so much so that British TV of this nature often makes its American counterparts seem weak and tepid.

One example of cringe-worthy acting in story one is the scene in which a Welsh police official is “retired”. You see a tired, stressed, overweight, but not very capable man who has made a muddle of things and mislead the investigation. When he is in an office with two of his superiors and his boss tells him he is off the force, the stream of self-excusing babble that comes out of the poor man’s mouth would embarrass anyone.

Officers come off as crude bullies. In contrast Jack Mowbray is a decent fellow obsessed with finding the serial killer who has moved his killing operations to the very area where Jack lives. Jack’s wife is terrified. Jack’s stressed-out behavior is ugly to watch.

First rate watching if you can stand the tension.

2011, Dark, Police Story, Violent

The Son of No One (2011)

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From NetFlix:

Channing Tatum stars as a young cop assigned to patrol his old Queens, N.Y., neighborhood, where he uncovers a dangerous secret about a long-unsolved murder. Tracy Morgan also takes a dramatic turn in this gripping indie thriller.

In my review for Retreat (2011) I mentioned a NY Times article deploring our lack of young male actors with staying power. In that review I hoped Jamie Bell would last. Quite possibly with Channing Tatum we may have another “keeper”.

Tatum gets the part right. But after all, he plays a very silent, taciturn, tormented cop. Cynics might say the acting was minimal on his part. But go to IMDB to review his long film resumé. Let’s hope he has staying power.

It didn’t hurt to have Al Pacino and Ray Liotta in the lineup. In all, the acting was pitch perfect.

Expect a grim and problematic resolution. But also expect a good film.

2010, Based on true facts, Could Be Hard To Watch, Cynical, Disturbing Image, Grim, Nudity, Police Story, Rape, Suspense, Violent

The Whistleblower (2010)

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From NetFlix:

Sent to Bosnia to train cops in the aftermath of that country’s brutal civil war, American policewoman Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz) uncovers evidence that U.N. peacekeepers are complicit in a flourishing sex-trafficking trade. But when she brings her allegations to light, she discovers that her foes are more powerful than the law. Based on a true story, this thriller from director Larysa Kondracki co-stars Monica Bellucci and David Strathairn.

Probably one of the harshest films I have watched recently, I was tempted to stop watching several times. But the cynical engagement in sex trafficking sponsored by UN peace keepers was so unnerving that I had to see some resolution at least in the case of Kathryn Bolkovac. Although Bolkovac got some satisfaction for her heroic efforts, no one would ever hire her again and the practice of sex trafficking still flourishes (and probably always will).

Be prepared for some brutal treatment by the peacekeepers of these women (rape, murder, etc).

As an artistic endeavor the film is so-so. But the events are riveting.

2009, British Mystery Series, Could Be Hard To Watch, Dark, Detective, Disturbing Image, Drama, Grim, Gritty, Made For TV, Occasional gore, Police Story, Sadism, Serial Killer, Suspense

Whitechapel (2009)

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From NetFlix:

Historic horror meets modern investigative methods in this atmospheric crime series set in 2008. When a killer mimics the murders of Jack the Ripper, a team of detectives and a tour guide join forces to bring the copycat to justice.

UPDATE IN DEC 2014:

You may now stream all three seasons (3 episodes per season) from Amazon provided you purchased Amazon Prime (which has many benefits). Each season solves one crime. Each season is gory and you should read the following which is an old review just to be fully warned.

OLD REVIEW:

As an ardent fan of MI-5 (having watched 38 episodes), I first saw Rupert Penry-Jones as the character Adam. Using IMDB I found that he also appeared in a British TV series “Whitechapel” of which only one season is available from NetFlix.

Be forewarned that this excellent series (all on one disc) is gory, as in “Jack the Ripper” because the search is on for a serial killer trying to exactly duplicate the crimes of the original Ripper.

Penry-Jones plays DI Joseph Chandler who is an upper-class Brit who has been groomed to quickly climb the police hierarchy. But first he must prove himself by catching the maniac before more deaths occur. He is resented by the rank and file under his command, especially DS Miles played by Philip Davis. Philip Davis is one of those secondary actors whom you have probably seen many times. Most notable for me is his role as the husband of “Vera Drake”, another worthwhile British film. This conflict among the policemen is actually the most important theme in the series and its resolution is very satisfying.

Wonderful acting, but not for the squeamish.