When you think of bad cops in cinema, you think Denzel Washington in Training Day, Gary Oldman in Leon: The Professional, or maybe even Harvey Keitel in Bad Lieutenant.
But it looks like Woody Harrelson will be added to the list of great corrupt cops on screen with the arrival of Oren Moverman’s Rampart. Already, the two-time Oscar nominee (for The People vs. Larry Flynt and The Messenger) is getting strong awards buzz for his performance as Dave “Date Rape” Brown. And this new poster, unveiled by Entertainment Weekly, is a great kickstarter to Millenium Entertainment’s campaign for the film, with Harrelson’s grim face and a sun glass reflection of a gun pointed at him.
Oren Moverman’s follow-up to The Messenger is set in the early ’90s when scandals rocked the LAPD. James Ellroy, author of L.A. Confidential and The Black Dahlia co-wrote the script, which is a fictional take on the scandals. The film follows veteran officer Dave Brown (Harrelson), the last of a dying breed of renegade cops, as he struggles to survive and take care of his family.
Scandals are a part of Rampart, but the film is more about Brown’s moral decay, and how his choices begin to affect his job as cop and his relationships with fellow officers and friends.
Ben Foster, Steve Buscemi, Robin Wright, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Ice Cube, Cynthia Nixon and Brie Larson play off of Woody Harrelson in supporting roles.
Rampart will have its Oscar-qualifying run for one week in NY and LA starting November 23rd. It will return to theaters in January.
