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Val Kilmer and 50 Cent are cops working for a corrupt Narcotics division operating throughout crime-ridden parts of Nawlins, having to deal with dirty FBI agents led by Michael Biehn. Jose Pablo Cantillo and Brian Presley are also Narcotics officers, but more crooked and less organized when they hunt down criminals..they are essentially loose cannons who take drugs and dirty money from gangsters they either kill or maim. Barry Shabaka Henley is a weary and worn Police Captain who must contend with Biehn who wishes for his men to be arrested so that their outlawing methods would not interfere with his unscrupulous activities. Someone among the four is a rat who has been snitching to the FBI about their less-than-law-abiding efforts to destroy gangs, the drug trafficking, among other affairs that have been polluting the city. Sharon Stone is a department psychiatrist trying to understand the four Narcotics officers, attempting to figure their motives and actions, hoping to steer the men in the right, not wrong, direction. Ugly, brutal film with few, if any, redeeming qualities, as we witness a vile and grim view of crime and how it affects the characters studied. I think this is a case where the shaky cam digital camera works because nothing about this bleak world we are entering should be presented in a beautiful form. The camera is all over the place, barely ever still..there's not a composed shot any longer than maybe five or so seconds, I'd guess. Choosing sides isn't that easy as the characters are all flawed, and even the real hero, played by Kilmer(..motivated to take out the scum due to his father's unsolved murder, himself a cop), doesn't await a warrant to enter the premises of known gang bangers, knowing that the methods required to getting one may take too long, understanding that if he and his partner doesn't stop them while they have a chance, there may never be a better time. The film vividly explores what police work on these unapologetically downtrodden streets can do to the psyche of those whose underpaid jobs are to "protect and serve." The cast really gives it their best, even 50 Cent..Kilmer's a real rock that anchors them. Plenty of gang violence with bodies riddled with bullets, excessive profanity(..as to be expected), and prostitution..this is a disturbing portrait that might leave many wanting to take a shower. The filmmakers, although the camera work is often close up on the faces of the characters, get a lot of value out of the setting, in Louisiana. The gang for which Kilmer and company are up against, named the Latin Kings, are actually funded by Biehn, and they are allowed to work from FEMA trailers!
score 7/10
Scarecrow-88 5 January 2010
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2186719/ |
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3-4-2021 00:05:43