There are two audiences for this movie — the general audience (some of whom may have heard of Ellroy, or even equate him with the film version of L.A. Confidential), and the Ellroy diehards who will be drawn in because Dark Blue is based on "a story" by the Demon Dog.

We review the film for the latter audience.

The final script was not written by James Ellroy, but based on reviews and information leaked from early drafts, it’s a safe assumption that Dark Blue, the film, has strayed some distance from Ellroy’s original conception (then dubbed The Plague Season). Character names have changed. Reportedly, substantial elements of Ellroy’s original plot are long gone or significantly altered.

So what’s left on the screen? Anything recognizably Ellroy?

Well, yeah….And maybe that’s its own kind of problem.

This is very much Kurt Russell’s film. His dirty LAPD cop — a member of an elite (read rogue) squad (think Dudley Smith, Bud White & Co.) — follows squarely in the footsteps of a number of earlier Demon Dog protagonists — chiefly Buzz Meeks, White, Wayne Tedrow Jr. (Tedrow was actually a surname employed in Ellroy’s original story) and Pete Bondurant: He’s a casual racist…a problem drinker…a killer…a tool wielded by a Dudley Smith-like superior who has, himself, gone way over to the other side.

Other Ellroy greatest hits echoed in Dark Blue:

A bloody shooting ala L.A. Confidential’s "Nite Owl Massacre" (this time in a convenience store).

A rush to crack the case at any expense, even if it means framing and executing the wrong lowlifes.

We get a wall safe blown out of its hiding place with repeated shotgun blasts (shades of Ward Littell’s similar feat in American Tabloid).

We get a dirty cop set up for an execution by his own dirty superior (another L.A. Confidential borrowing).

Hell, we get the same actor who portrayed drunken detective Dick Stensland in L.A. Confidential portraying another hard-drinking LAPD detective…same haircut, same clothes (sports jackets never go out of style in the LAPD).

Less the Hip-Hop and Rap tracks, the soundtrack’s reliance on a lonely trumpet even evokes Jerry Goldsmith’s score for L.A. Confidential.

With so many of Ellroy’s greatest hits cropping up in Dark Blue, we’re left wondering if Ellroy was simply regurgitating old material, or if the eventual screenwriter started backloading Ellroy touches into the screenplay. Having never read Ellroy’s original treatment, we’re in no position to judge which is the case. Suffice it to say, Dark Blue will be one déjŕ vu fueled ride for those well-acquainted with Ellroy’s novels.

Russell? In perhaps his best role (one he clearly relishes), he’s White Jazz’s Dave Klein with a wife, a kid and an eventual conscience, prowling Lloyd Hopkins’ latter-day Los Angeles. He watched and, to an extent, participated in the Watts Riots (just like Hopkins).

The spine of the movie is the Rodney King beating and the riot that broke out when his police attackers were eventually acquitted. The movie opens with real and simulated video of King’s pursuit and beating. As the movie unfolds, we hear, via radio and TV announcements, that the jury is still deliberating the case.

As the King verdict draws closer, Russell and partner’s drive to close the convenience store shooting spree leads to south LA and a bloody shootout and pursuit through those same south LA streets as the riots explode (exceptionally well re-created by director Ron Shelton).

Heavy-handed? Sure: What Dark Blue lacks in subtlety, it makes up for with bombast and outrageous (though often effective) excess.

Over the top? Yeah…but it’s still a hell of a ride.

Like L.A. Confidential, the movie wraps with a well-attended, media saturated promotion ceremony, but this one goes very wrong.

In a nutshell: It’s not L.A. Confidential, but that’s not for lack of trying.

Nevertheless, Dark Blue is arguably the second best Ellroy-affiliated full-length feature ever made.

— Craig McDonald, Feb. 19, 2003

JAMES ELLROY:

DARK BLUE/THE PLAGUE SEASON

(Original Ellroy script)

(1/24/03) OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: “When the LAPD’s elite Special Investigations Squad (SIS) is assigned a high-profile quadruple homicide, veteran detective Eldon Perry (Kurt Russell) takes the case.

"Known for his tough street tactics and a fiery temper, Eldon also tutors rookie Bobby Keough (Scott Speedman) in the grimrealities of police intimidation and corruption.

"While navigating the tumultuous neighborhoods of South Central L.A., Perry and Keough must track down the cold-blooded killers as well as face their own demons — demons that prove more ruthless than the criminals they pursue.

“Dark Blue is rated "R" by the MPAA and opens nationwide on Friday, February 21st.”

• E! featured an interview with Kurt Russell on the set of the new film on June 27, 2001. Questioned about the downbeat subject matter, Russell said, “I'm going into this with the notion nobody may see it. I just love the script." The E! piece also featured shots of staged riots on the streets of L.A.

• "Dark Blue" centers around two cops "on the eve of the Rodney King Verdict," who chase two "killers responsible for a horrible robbery and mass murder" (shades of "L.A. Confidential's" Nite Owl Massacre). The project has gone through several name changes, starting life as "The Plague Season," then being renamed, "4-29-92" which is the date of the Rodney King beating. The film's title was switched back to "The Plague Season," then, Sept. 11, 2001 struck. Anthrax scares prompted producers to cast around for another name. They arrived at "Dark Blue."

• Interestingly, one of the characters in the script shares a surname with a pivotal character in James Ellroy's novel, The Cold Six Thousand: "Tedrow."

• The film is a production of Universal Pictures. Ron Shelton, of "Bull Durham"/"Tin Cup" fame, is directing; Kurt Russell stars. Producers include Sean Daniel, Jim Jacks and Cotty Chubb.

• Official Site HERE.

• Film Trailer Review HERE.

• Upcoming Movies information HERE.

• Yahoo page on "Dark Blue" HERE.

• Kurt Russell Interview HERE.

• More news HERE.

• Script review HERE.

• Box Office Prophet article HERE.

• Reuters review HERE.

• Entertainment Weekly review HERE.

• Dark Horizons piece HERE.

• Entertainment Tonight review HERE.

• CBS review HERE.

• IGN Ron Shelton interview HERE.

• Strong praise for the film HERE.

• Favorable comparisons to L.A. Confidential HERE.

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