"Rampart" (105 min.) brings the story of Dave Brown, an LA cop going off the tracks, played by Woody Harrelson in an outstanding perfomance. In the beginning of the movie, Brown tries to keep his personal life together, as complicated as it is with 2 kids he has from 2 women who happen to be sisters, and they are all living together. At a certain point, Brown gets involved in a car accident (accidental? set up?) and after the other driver tries to get away, he beats the driver exessively and just happens to get caught on tape.

Things get worse from there, and I don't want to give away much more from the plot, but suffice to say, Brown gets more and more isolated, even as he meets other women in his life. The whole movie is pretty much downbeat, and exposes the utter loniless of the Woody Harrelson character, leading eventually towards the open-ended conclusion of the movie.

The first hour was sorta long in the build-up, but the last 45 min. really shine. This movie has an incredible all-star cast besides Harrelson, with juice performances from Robin Wright, Ned Beatty, Sigourney Weaver, Anne Heche, and Ice Cube. But special mention in my book goes to Brie Larson in the role of Harrelson's troubled teenage daughter. In all, quite a movie, although certainly not for everyone. Still, "Rampart" is highly recommended!

The tagline for Rampart reads "The most corrupt cop you've ever seen on screen," a statement which can only be true if you don't watch too many movies. Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson) is certainly a corrupt cop, but he's far from the most corrupt cop. Cops much more corrupt, more sympathetic and more compelling have been seen onscreen before. Chalk this up to a failure of marketing.

Rampart is the second film by Oren Moverman, following his brilliant 2009 film The Messenger. That film also starred Woody Harrelson, among several others in this cast, and scored him an Oscar nomination. This nomination likely arose from his strengths as an actor, as well as the strengths of the film. Had Rampart been a stronger film he may have gotten a deserved nomination for his work here too. Moverman co-wrote the screenplay with James Ellroy, the well-regarded crime novelist who knows his way around police-driven Los Angeles stories. The film succeeds in presenting its main character as an amoral cop without reason. Dave Brown is not driven by the typical conventions of a corrupt cop movie, existing as he is for no discernible reason. That's certainly an interesting twist, but not everything else falls together so perfectly.

The setting is Los Angeles, circa 1999. Dave Brown is a controversial figure around the police department, having allegedly murdered a serial date rapist years earlier, earning him the nickname "Date Rape Dave." His home life isn't any more conventional. He has two daughters, born to two sisters (Cynthia Nixon and Anne Heche) who regard him passively. Things begin to implode when Dave beats a motorist who has wrecked into his car and is caught on tape. An investigation is launched which threatens Dave's entire way of living.

Many familiar faces fill the supporting roles. The film co-stars Sigourney Weaver, Ice Cube, Robin Wright, Steve Buscemi, and an unrecognizable Ben Foster. It's Harrelson and his gaunt appearance that stand out the most. This is a blistering performance, possibly his best, with much more depth than the film itself.

Rampart is well-made with some great acting, but it fails to fully engage. In presenting a character with no moral center it fails to give the audience an emotional center to latch onto. Certainly it does try to make Dave Brown sympathetic with the smallest amount of contrivance as possible, but watching it feels like going through the motions. Nothing in the film feels powerful enough. The ending especially is a point of complaint. As is increasingly typical with independent films, there isn't much of an ending. There's nothing wrong with an abrupt conclusion when it makes a poignant statement about what's lead up to it, but here it feels inappropriate. There's not enough closure. Whatever Moverman and Ellroy were trying to say about their character hasn't come full-circle.

This is a forgettable movie with a performance at the center of it that deserves better. The screenplay is what ultimately fails the film as it feels like Moverman shot the first draft. A bit of polishing, refining the edges may have worked in the film's favor. While Harrelson is given the chance to explore untainted areas of his acting range and that's something worth seeing, you may ultimately walk away from Rampart wishing it was more conventional.

The trailer/preview is the best part of the movie. Harrelson is great, but there is no "tense" "action" really in the film. A couple of gritty moments, but that's it and a lot of unresolved plot lines that go nowhere. It doesn't even have the decency to spiral all the way downward and end in some kind of self-implosion or something. Anything.