Customer Reviews

True Blue

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I always did think that Tom Berenger was a good actor. He's one of those character actors that always adds spice to whatever movie he might be in.

In TRUE BLUE, he gets a starring role, and he delved into his character excellently.

He plays a beaten down and warn out cop who hasn't had a break his entire life. Then when a beautiful suspect, played by Lori Heuring, needs a shoulder to cry on, he, against better judgement, takes her in. And quite frankly, you don't blame him.

Tom Berenger gives an excellent performance. The story is entertaining and filled with multiple twists. So, if you're looking for one of those movies that didn't get a whole lot of publicity, and deserved it. This is the one.

I confess, I came into this film with somewhat lowered expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was a perfectly adequate, competently made mystery movie.

The details of the somewhat intricate plot I will not delve into too much here. It involves Asian gangs, S & M, a mystery body part found floating in the river, and a world-weary cop that has been there and done that. The twists and turns in the plot make it a gripping movie to watch, even though it does lag at times.

Tom Berenger is quite good as a worn-out middle aged cop who drinks and smokes too much and who seems fed up with the travails of his job. He doesn't seem like a fool, but he does find himself involved in something more complex than what it appears to be on the surface. We feel sympathy for him, and we want him to come out ahead. His heart (though not always his common sense) is mostly in the right place.

The main female lead, played by Lori Heuring, didn't seem that convincing to me. She seemed too self-conscious and too "aware of her beauty", which to me is a major flaw. However, she's adequate enough in her performance and lovely to look at.

The "look" of this film is moody and film noir, which sometimes manifests itself in a somewhat dreary grey overcast appearance to the movie. Sometimes the actors are not placed in flattering lighting situations either. But, to be honest, they all look fine no matter how abysmal the lighting is.

The plot is, as I mentioned before, full of twists and turns. I really enjoyed this. I enjoyed not knowing quite what to expect next, and I enjoyed not being able to predict the next plot twist. (I weary of seeing the same hackneyed plot device trotted out again and again in these kind of mysteries.) Not to say that everything in this movie was unexpected and unique -- it wasn't. It had its flaws, to be sure. But in the end, the script held plenty of surprises and I found it to be satisfactorily interesting.

I recommend this film, as long as it's understood that while this film is far from flawless, it's interesting enough. A solid offering.

Even the picture was made without the support of a glorious and sumptuous photography, emerges as a powerful story whose intensity and twists of fate gets maintain the spectator's interest. A hand hanging in a toy's boat in the middle of a lagoon in Central Park, unavoidable it reminds to Blue Velvet, will be the sparkling point that it will lead to a very interesting puzzle of dark interests, sinister sexual tastes, corruption web and hidden dots beneath the apparent state of things. A psychological mirror arrangement in which the solution will be to play with the weapons of your enemy. Sometimes in this quotidian underground logic you must fight "with" and not "against" a very covered and smart enemy who plays and bets hard that handles carefully the necessary balance between corruption, double moral and ineludible prestige to exert pressure in certain power's spheres that keeps to making up the reality and so, survive.

Tom Berenger makes an impressive role when he hast to face this complicated case that will be growing in intensity and complexity. There will be too much interweaved information and the clues will be given through intelligent dialogues and smart clues. Your memory and observation sense will be tested in a film that deserves your attention.

A Neo Film Noir that reaches its aim.

The plot is familiar as is the case for most of these detective movies that don't make it to theatres. But this movie has some interesting twists and the pace is good. Tom Berenger, as always, turns in a credible performance as the typical cop on the edge (who few people care to work with) and the rest of the cast are quite good. The are many worse ways to spend an hour and half.

Tom Berenger is excellent in the lead role as a world-weary cop who makes the mistake of looking for love and trust in the wrong places.

In the best noir tradition, the two female leads (Lori Heuring and Pamela Gidley) are gorgeous; the music is moody and the story is full of twists and turns.

Recommended.

I rated this 4 stars because I'm a big fan of Tom Berenger's acting ability. It's amazing he could do as much as he did, with a script of this caliber and a plot this obtuse and improbable.

Berenger plays an experienced NYPD homicide detective, Rembrandt (Rem) Macy, who has seen everything; he expresses this weariness well in his eyes, facial expressions, attitude and gestures, yet he still is very compassionate towards others. He gets assigned a new case investigating why a detached human hand showed up in a NYC pond. The hand is identified as belonging to a young woman who worked in the Mayor's office and had 2 roommates, one of whom is "Nikki", played by Lori Heuring. Macy and his partner Beck, played by Pamela Gidley, go to visit the roommate, Nikki, and you can see that Macy is immediately attracted to her, yet keeps his professional distance. He tells her where he lives: how improbable is that? Homicide police detectives are notoriously cautious by their training and never give out personal information, such as where they live or anything about their families. Again, this improbability makes the plot beyond believable.

The best thing about the movie is Berenger's acting. He really is talented. The other really good actress in the movie is the actress who played Anna, who is apparently either a detective or research assistant at the police department. She's outstanding. Lori Heuring appears very self-conscious in this film, as though she's not quite sure how she should interpret the part she's playing.

Overall, I would say to buy this movie, just to watch what Tom Berenger can do.

"True Blue" is true noir, not the false noir that so many films portray, but downright nitty gritty film noir, with a cast of shady characters, double and triple crosses, not just one but two femme fatales, dim and dark and rainy scenes, murder and mayhem all around, and a flawed but decent guy who finds himself in way over his head.

The film stars Tom Berenger and Lori Heuring with a great supporting cast that includes Pam Gidley, Barry Newman, and Soon-Tek Oh.

Tom Berenger plays the world weary basically decent cop caught up in a conflicted web. Berenger is probably best known for his Oscar nominated/ Golden Globe winning role as evil Sergeant Barnes in "Platoon" (1986), but that is only one of more than 50 films in which Berenger has put in an excellent performance. My favorite Berenger films include "The Big Chill" (1983), "Eddie and the Cruisers" (1983), "Sniper" (1993), "Last of the Dogmen" (1995), and his Teddy Roosevelt in "Rough Riders" (1997).

Lori Heuring has been in a few dozen films, mostly in small roles. This appears to be her one co-starring role as an innocent young woman who maybe isn't so innocent.

Pam Gidley is a familiar face even if the name doesn't immediately resonate. She's best known for her recurring role in season 1 of "CSI" (2001) and for playing the beautiful cyborg in "Cherry 2000" (1987). She's had recurring roles in "The Pretender" (1997-2000) and "Strange Luck" (1995-6). She plays Berenger's partner.

Barry Newman plays a police captain. He's best known for his recurring (Emmy nominated) role in "Petrocelli" (1974-6) and for the cult classic "Vanishing Point" (1971).

Soon Tek Oh's familiar face and voice have graced more than 100 films and TV shows. He often plays a villain in films but has been in several TV shows in which he played a good guy - e.g., Lt. Torres in "Charlie's Angels" (1980-1). I remember him best as the General from "Magnum PI". Oh plays Berenger's ex partner.

The film is written and directed by J.S.Cardone. "True Blue" is one of 18 films he wrote, and one of 12 he directed. He has won several independent awards for his work, including "Shadowhunter" (1993), "Black Day Blue Night" (1995), and "A Climate for Killing" (1991). Most of his films are film noir or verge on it. He and Berenger worked together on "Sniper 3" (2004), and he worked with Heuring on "Mummy an' the Armadillo" (2004).

I gave this a 5. It doesn't deserve a 5, but it's far better than 4, and since Amazon won't let me assign a 9, I'll give it a 5. My main criticism of the ending is that it ended three scenes too late. The "happy" ending seems to be tacked on as an after thought, and while it doesn't violate the film noir status, the film, would have been better had it ended with Heuring's line "I don't want to die" and Berenger's reply - "No one wants to die."

This is a below-average whodunnit thriller that stars a pudgier Tom Berenger. Not much action here, it's a thriller that relies a lot on the dialogue to carry the story. The plot is somewhat convoluted, as many important characters to the story are mentioned only by name, and some aren't seen until late in the movie, so it's important to pay attention to the dialogue in detail. It's somewhat hard to keep the plot straight in the 1st viewing, but makes a lot more sense watching it the 2nd time.

Berenger is ideally suited as the veteran hard...cop who takes no gruff, Lori Heuring provides nice eye candy as the damsel in distress, and there is a nice plot twist that I didn't see coming that helps make up for the rather slow-moving story.

Barebones DVD, with just 3 trailers as the only bonus features...

Didn't like it; unbelievably a waste of time and talent.