Los Angeles in the late 1990s, and the city is seeing out a wretched decade. With memories of Rodney King's beating still festering and an investigation into the force's alleged corruption ongoing, the last thing the LAPD needs is a cop as unrepentantly dirty as Dave Brown, who is caught on film administering vicious instant justice to a careless driver. The powers-that-be relish the opportunity to begin disciplinary action that they hope will see Brown out on his ear, sacrificed as evidence of the department cleaning up its act. Brown shrugs off the charges and digs his heels in. Away from the job, Brown indulges in shameless womanising while living with his two ex-wives (Anne Heche and Cynthia Nixon), sisters who are the mothers to his two disaffected daughters. It's not a domestic set-up that provides succour, and the pressures on Brown begin to tell. Working with a James Ellroy screenplay, Oren Moverman and Woody Harrelson have reunited following The Messenger to create the most searing, convincing and brilliant crime movies of recent times, with Harrelson delivering a performance guaranteed to be one of the most talked about of the year, arguably the finest of a stellar career.
Michael Hayden