In a reflective mood - 'Date Rape' Dave justifies his actions...
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There’s no doubting that Woody Harrelson is an accomplished actor and Hollywood veteran. But the star, as famous for his off-screen antics as he is for his on-screen performances, has always brought a bit of himself to his work. Be it Mickey Knox (Natural Born Killers), Larry Flynt (The People vs. Larry Flynt) or Tallahassee (Zombieland), every character is ostensibly Woody. In his latest film, Rampart, the actor has cracked it, turning in a full performance that impresses without that necessary injection of charisma…
‘Date Rape’ Dave Brown, a veteran LA policeman whose maverick approach to justice – the nickname stems from his alleged killing of a rapist – is questioned when he is caught on camera beating a black motorist (sound familiar?), is a full character in his own right. Ironically he’s probably the closest character to the real Woody that the actor has ever played. The charisma Harrelson brings to all his roles is undercut with the uncertainty of a man on the brink. In Rampart, Woody the performer has been replaced by Woodrow Tracy Harrelson, and Dave is a crumbling facade; an intelligent, capable man who has knowingly undersold himself and still come up short.
The most obvious comparisons to director Oren Overman, who worked with Harrelson on the Oscar-nominated The Messenger, and screenwriter James Ellroy’s film are the original Bad Lieutenant and its remake. But where New York and New Orleans offered the anonymity that allowed the bad lieutenant to get away with his crimes, the constant media spotlight afforded to the ‘Bad Sergeant’ by Los Angeles only highlights Brown’s flaws and scapegoats the man as rogue policing personified. Despite all his wit and street wisdom, his knowledge of the law, bluff and double bluff, Dave’s ‘old regime’ can no longer survive in the modern world, and, unwilling to adapt, his demise is inevitable. The beauty of Overman and Ellroy’s script is in the when and how, not the if…
In a year that has seen a silent film sweep the Oscars, Rampart is another of those ‘they don’t make them like this any more’ surprises that will undoubtedly be criminally overlooked at the multiplex. An intricate game of chess, told from the perspective of a pawn who would be king, Rampart is quite simply a gripping, surprising 1970s noir, thriller and character study rolled into one. Immersive, mesmerising and beautifully shot, there will be few films, or performances, this year as complete as this one. You can’t help but feel that, in Overman, Harrelson has found a director that understands him and can capture his best.
