I had no idea what this was based on before I went in to watch it. Everyone (well many) were raving about Woody Harrelsons performance. But the feeling I got from the movie, the vibe it has, does remind one of James Ellroy. Especially if you have read one of his novels (which conveniently enough I just had finished one).

What you have to accept (if you can), is the fact, that this is a very dark miserable, but strangely endearing person. The character Woodys playing does not feel he's doing anything wrong. And you have to admire the honesty (he doesn't pretend, he's a straight shooter). Sometimes you may admire him, sometimes you may hate him. But you cannot say that he is fake.

Having said that, this matter will decide if you like or hate the movie. It's not really an easy movie at all. I wouldn't dare calling the watching experience as pleasant, but it sure was something incredible!

The recent run of Hollywood's "corrupt cop" movies seem to fall into two categories. There are those with great story lines which really draw the viewer into their world (like the surprisingly decent STREET KINGS) and those which show promise but move along aimlessly without a decent story (such as END OF WATCH). Unfortunately, RAMPART falls into the latter category.

The film features a gaunt Woody Harrelson as your garden-variety corrupt cop, given over to adultery, racism, misogyny and about another dozen 'isms' and 'ogynies' while you're at it. He's an intriguing character, but unfortunately he's mired in an all-too-familiar world in a storyline which never really goes anywhere, instead just plodding along until it finally finishes. It's all rather disappointing, leaving me thinking "well, was that it?" come the end. After all, it's not like it brings anything original or thought-provoking to the genre.

In addition, RAMPART also manages to waste a number of decent supporting actors who usually appear in just a scene or two. Sigourney Weaver, Ben Foster, and Steve Buscemi are three of the obvious ones who are underutilised, but Ned Beatty and THE WALKING DEAD's Jon Bernthal also deserve better than this. In the end, RAMPART becomes a depressingly humdrum cop movie, too obsessed with realism to be an entertaining movie in itself.

Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson) is a brutal Los Angeles police officer from the Rampart Division. The police force is facing many scandals and then Dave beats up a motorist who crashed into his vehicle then ran away. The beating is videotaped by the public and he is under investigation. He has had many questionable actions including the killing of a serial rapist. His personal life is a crazy unorthodox home and sleeping with a mysterious stranger from a bar.

We've seen this movie before. It's called 'Training Days'. Before that, it was 'Colors'. And so on. And it's been done better. The major problem is that Woody is by himself too much. He needs a partner to interact with. Woody does a good job, but his character is too single note. The story lack flow. The pacing is monotonous. Woody should do this character, but in another better written cop movie.