Inside Pulse DVD Review – Dirty

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DVD available at Amazon.com

Director:

Chris Fisher

Cast:

Cuba Gooding Jr………..Officer Salim Adel
Clifton Collins Jr………..Officer Armando Sancho
Cole Hauser……….Lieutenant
Keith David……….Captain Spain
Wyclef Jean……….Baine
Robert LaSardo……….Roland
Khleo Thomas……….Splooge
Aimee Garcia……….Rita

Silver Nitrate Pictures and Destination Films present Dirty. Written by Eric Saks & Gil Reavill and Chris Fisher. Running time: 97 minutes. Rated R (for strong violence, pervasive language, some sexual content and drug use.) Available on DVD: April 4, 2006.

The movie:

“Remembrance is redemption.” – Dirty

Dirty cops are big business. Ever since Denzel Washington walked away with gold at the Oscars for Training Day there has been an incursion of gritty cop dramas on the big and small screen. The Shield is an identifiable TV show, but there’s also Narc, Dark Blue, and HBO’s The Wire.

Dirty, which had a small release earlier this year, is supposedly Cuba Gooding Jr.’s comeback to serious acting. After winning a golden statuette for his performance as Rod “Show me the Money” Tidwell in Jerry Maguire, the actor took misstep after misstep and appeared in more than a few box office bombs. His ego tarnished, his glory lost, Gooding stars as corrupt-to-the-bone LAPD officer Salim Adel. He’s loud, foulmouthed, and his actions are utterly contemptible. Partnered with Officer Armando Sancho (Clifton Collins Jr.), a former gangbanger turned police enforcer, the two patrol the city streets. “To serve and protect” may be the motto the Academy likes to instill in its new recruits, but on the streets you do what it takes to survive.

Armando gets more than he bargained for working in a precinct loaded with corruption, from the top on down. Salim accepts it, and takes pleasure in harassing those citizens he’s paid to protect. Whether it is through battering, bribery, or planting evidence, there is nothing he won’t do. His partner, having grown up in the barrio, hides his gang tattoos. That was the past and his future is all about being part of the biggest, baddest gang of them all – the LAPD.

When one bust goes horribly wrong and an innocent bystander is murdered, Armando begins to have an ongoing debate with his conscience. IAD (Internal Affairs) wants his testimony to corroborate the report on what transpired that evening. Never the rat, IAD compels him to get his partner on the record. Knowing there could be dire consequences, Armando reluctantly agrees. All he has to do is make it through one more day as a black-and-blue.

Over the course of one bullet strewn day, the two partners, chiefly Salim, hassle tourists and steal personal items (and that’s before arriving to roll call). At headquarters, an unfurnished warehouse, they listen to a Patton-esque oratory from their superior, Captain Spain (Keith David), where he encourages his soldiers to “fight fire with fire.” A man only known by his rank of lieutenant (Cole Hauser) meets with the two officers after the captain’s soliloquy because he has a little job he wants them to carry out: marshal 13 kilos of cocaine to a local dealer named Baine (musician Wyclef Jean). The cocaine is from the evidence room; the delivery will help to make a bust and take another drug dealer off the streets.

A simple assignment gets worse as the day drags on.

Director Chris Fisher had a hard time with character development, especially Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character. It was a tightrope act portraying Officer Salim Adel as the bane of corruption. The viewer loathes him, but can sort of understand the transgressions he has made.

Clifton Collins Jr. continues his amazing streak of supporting work. From Tigerland to Capote, Collins’ stock is rising. The quote at the start of this review is by his character, Armando. Remembrance is redemption. Three little words that characterize this day in the life of a police officer. Collins could have easily said, “you can’t escape your past,” and the sentiment would have resonated the same.

The narrative is benefited from being set in the sprawling city of Los Angeles. The town is the perfect setting if you know the history behind the Rampart police scandal in which dirty cops were convicted because of their indiscretions. As the film progresses, and the viewer watches as Armando slips deeper into his moral crisis, the story seems repetitive. No new ground is being broken. The prolonged ending also lacks precision, coming off overblown.

Still, it has two commanding leads, and Keith David chewing the scenery. Not enough of Keith David, though. He has two good scenes and that’s it. In an interesting coincidence, David also played a police captain in Crash. He was the supervising officer for Matt Dillon’s character, who was closet racist. In this Chris Fisher movie there is a scene where Salim tells his partner, “I hate white people.” Weird.

For the longest time Cuba Gooding Jr. was playing it safe, here he is raw and energetic in a performance that is unlike anything he has ever done. Comparisons are sure to be made between Dirty and Training Day. Cuba’s worse cop character is similar to Denzel’s; both use expletives way too much and they refer to their partners as “my nigga.” That isn’t cop speak. That’s the product of being raised in an urbanized area, where everyday is a struggle to survive.

Score: 4.5/10

The DVD:

THE VIDEO
(Presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen)

The film is sharp, yet saturated with contrast issues and grainy images. Eliot Rockett’s jittery cinematography is a common effect with gritty cop dramas. The look is grimy capturing the sun-drenched climate of inner city Los Angeles. The image is solid overall, only a faintness of edge enhancement.

Score: 7.5/10

THE AUDIO
(English 5.1, Thai 5.1, and French 2.0)

Mr. Bombastic, the sound will rock you like a hurricane. Okay, maybe not. But it is a thunderous sound track. Rumbling bass and surround sound, the mix is a dynamic that lends itself well to gunfire and gangster rap-centric music. Besides the three different audio selections, the disc includes subtitles in English, French, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai.

Score: 8.5/10

SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentary, deleted scenes, and featurettes!!

We begin with an audio commentary with director Chris Fisher and his cinematographer Eliot Rockett. This commentary was conducted prior to Dirty‘s small release in NY and LA. And like the release, the contributors are low-key. But they are informative. They have all sorts of stories to tell. Like how Cole Hauser suggested having his meeting with the two officers in a bar rather than in a hallway. Actor Robert LaSardo did a bit of ad-libbing near the end of the feature. It is an action that illustrates the depravity that men can do.

An aspect I like in commentaries is when the participants start to namedrop other films. So Fisher and Rockett talk about Syriana and Crash. I didn’t like what one of them said about Crash and how the characters collided with each other numerous times, especially when you consider the size of Los Angeles. Yeah, well Dirty takes a direction that is foreseeable too.

Other supplemental features include seven deleted Scenes. Most are merely extensions to scenes already in the final cut. The first two could have easily been added in as they help demonstrate one-upmanship between Salim and Armando. Nothing like a game of “knuckles” to see who is superior.

“Gettin’ Dirty” (9:46) is a featurette about the film’s L.A. premiere. Gooding and Collins are prominent in sound bites as they openly discuss their characters and how their upbringing played a role. Gooding lavishes praise towards Collins – saying, “God is in his career” – as he talks about his performance in Capote. Whereas he was cold and inward as Perry Smith, as Armando he doesn’t hold anything back.

There’s a four-minute skateboarding/breakdancing extra, which is nothing more than a montage of skateboarding and breakdancing antics set to music. Rounding out the disc is the music video “Chump” by Oh No and trailers for Hostel and 10 direct-to-video releases. Um, nothing to see here.

Score: 3/10

InsidePulse’s Ratings for Dirty
CATAGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

4.5
THE VIDEO

7.5
THE AUDIO

8.5
THE EXTRAS

3
REPLAY VALUE

3.5
OVERALL
4
(NOT AN AVERAGE)

Travis Leamons is one of the Inside Pulse Originals and currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Inside Pulse Movies. He's told that the position is his until he's dead or if "The Boss" can find somebody better. I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!