Rampart

Director: Oren Moverman
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Ice Cube, Ned Beatty, Ben Foster, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Brie Larson, Steve Buscemi, Cynthia Nixon, Jon Bernthal
Running Time: 108 min.
Rating: R

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

I spent half the running time of Rampart wondering when the main character would bite the dust and the other half wondering why I didn't want to see that happen more. It's a frustrating film with isolated flashes of greatness and an electrifying lead performance, starting off as a focused character study, before unraveling as an overplotted mess. It's a compelling mess to be sure, but goes in a bunch of different directions when it really just needs to be going in one. The result is an effort that occasionally impresses but ends up being muddled by bureaucratic and political nonsense, too often tying the film up in as much red tape as its main character.

It's Los Angeles circa 1999 and LAPD officer Dan Brown (Woody Harrelson), is a 24-year veteran of the Rampart division, which is recently reeling from scandal. He's also a racist, mysogynistic, homophobic, corrupt, womanizer with anger management issues serious enough to have earned the nickname, "Date Rape Dan" (for when he allegedly murdered a date rapist in cold blood). Now with video footage surfacing of him assaulting a suspect within an inch of his life and his department under a microscope, his troubled career is called into question by assistant district attorney Joan Confrey (Sigourney Weaver) and Internal affairs investigator Kyle Timkins (Ice Cube) who both are just trying to avoid further embarrassment.  He could have been set up, but that point's almost irrelevant when you consider he'd do something like this anyway, and has. His home life isn't much better, as he's living with his two spurned ex-wives (Anne Heche and Cynthia Nixon) who are sisters. With each he shares a daughter, the eldest of which (Brie Larson) can't stand him. Plagued by scandal and personal demons, Dan's reached the breaking point and must now confront his failings head on or risk losing his job, and possibly his life and family.

Early on, it appears this is going to be a brutal character study of a protagonist who's actually the antagonist. The opening scenes set that stage as Dan verbally abuses a female officer and roughs up a suspect. A portrait of a racist cop out of control with seemingly no conscience or remorse for his actions brings to mind 1992's Bad Lieutenant or its recent New Orleans-based remake starring Nic Cage. But then the film seems to back off that. Then a little more. Then a lot. By about the midway point, the screenplay gets so lost in its corruption plot (which never pays off in a meaningful way), that we almost forget who the story is really about. Worse yet, we keep hearing what a terrible human being this guy is but there just isn't enough evidence presented on screen to support it. He's supposedly this monstrous deadbeat dad, yet most of the scenes he shares with his family aren't nearly as destructive as you'd expect given how much of a ticking time bomb he is on the job. Most of these home scenes work though, at least until they're interrupted by the machinations of what feels too much like a police procedural.

Though the movie frequently seems to lose its grip its the main character, Harrelson doesn't. He can pretty much do anything and they should have let him, rather than just shoehorn the actor into the kind of formula cop movie we've seen far too often. Moverman previously directed him to a supporting actor nomination in 2009's war film, The Messenger, a far more focused effort that knew exactly what it was and where to go. But what's stranger is how he and crime novelist James Elroy's script seems to be in complete conflict with the directorial style and execution. It's shot in almost a frenetic, hand held, docudrama-like way that wants to bring us onto the streets of L.A during the 90's, yet the screenplay is far more conventional than that in how it incorporates familiar elements of dirty cop movies.

Robin Wright plays a suspicious defense attorney Dan starts sleeping with, and while it's a substantial supporting role well played by the great actress, I'm glad I'm not being quizzed on its purpose.  The legendary Ned Beatty also appears as a retired dirty cop who still has his hands in everything in the city, making the most of his intense scenes with Harrelson. A bearded Ben Foster is wasted as a wheelchair-bound homeless man while Steve Buscemi cameos. And doing a complete 180 from her recent turn in 21 Jump Street, an almost unrecognizable Brie Larson goes head to head with Harrelson in the emotional family scenes as his rebellious daughter, but even that sub-plot's impact seems diluted amidst everything else. And Heche and Nixon's sibling ex-wives spend most of the movie admonishing Dan or threatening to kick him out the house.    

It's always a shame when a movie that should be a home run falters, especially when it comes at the expense of skillful performances that deserved top notch material. If any of this feels like a gripping character study it's due to Harrelson, who provides enough gritty realism to convince us we're watching the movie we really wanted to see instead of the one onscreen. Officer Dan Brown isn't the kind of character you can just plug into a formula plot and expect a thrilling result. He's difficult, requiring a challenging script. You'd figure an independently financed production would have the leeway to take some risks, so it's especially disappointing to see a small film playing it so safe with a hot-button issue like police brutality. On the acting front Rampart definitely delivers, but most of its failings stem from spoon-feeding us more plot than was even necessary.

Toy Story 3

Director: Lee Unkrich
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris
Rating: G
Running Time: 103 min.

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

In the minds of many it's a travesty that Pixar doesn't have a Best Picture Oscar yet, even if I don't necessarily agree. And that's not because I believe animated films are incapable of carrying the same impact as live action (though there may be some small truth in that) but rather because I've found that as technically proficient and emotionally moving as they can often be, they just don't hold up very well on repeated viewings. Last year they earned a Best Picture nomination for Up, a forgettable action-adventure barely worthy of a mild recommendation and ironically their weakest effort to date. Despite only being recognized to make up for the snubs of Ratatouille and Wall-E, it brought to light some problems with these films I couldn't previously pinpoint. It might be a stretch to say Pixar's grown complacent, but whether it's toys, fish, cars, rats, robots or grumpy old men and boy scouts, you can't help but get the feeling that they're making the same movie over and over again. The advantage they have is that they do it so well there's little reason to complain and audiences can also plead guilty in taking their artistry for granted, expecting a home run each time out.

I still had little interest in seeing their latest horse in the race, Toy Story 3, despite it ranking as the second best reviewed film of the year (what else is new?) and the highest grossing animated film of all-time. That is until I overheard a description of the plot, which took me aback in its maturity. But I should have sensed this coming being that over the past few years these movies have been handling more mature topics and can no longer be written off as just for kids. They're thematically substantial films being made for a mass audience and now the far-reaching ambition that propelled Ratatouille and Wall-E is being applied to what was always Pixar's most juvenile property, and the one that put them on the map. In what's kind of a relief, this isn't as ambitious as those two, eclipsing its predecessors as the strongest in the series and working on an entirely different level as a meditation on the passage of time, moving on and growing up.

Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and most of the rest of the gang are back but not seeing nearly as much action this time around with their now 18-year-old owner Andy (John Morris) about to head off to college. Having been stored away in his room and not played with for years the toys have outgrown their usefulness and face a couple of options for their future, none of which are particularly promising. It's either a lonely life confined to the attic, being donated to day care, or obviously worst of all, the trash. Only Woody is selected to take the trip to school with Andy but a mix-up sends the attic bound Buzz, Woody, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head (Don Rickles and Estelle Harris), Barbie (Jodi Benson), Jesse (Joan Cusack), Bullseye, Rex (Wallace Shawn) and Hamm (John Ratzenberger) to Sunnyside Daycare, which at first looks to be a paradise where toys are spoiled and played with all day long. But it isn't long before they discover they've arrived at what's essentially a maximum security prison ruled with an iron fist by a bitter purple bear named Lotso (Ned Beatty) and his two henchmen, the giant, really creepy looking Big Baby with a lazy eye and Ken (Michael Keaton), of Ken and Barbie fame. Now Woody and company have to somehow find a way to escape and return home to Andy before he leaves for school, and potentially leaves them for good.

It's unnecessary even discussing the animation in these Pixar films anymore. It's always incredible, and this is right on par with the previous two in that regard.  Like Up before it, this was released into many theaters in 3D but I can't imagine it made much of a difference either way since the real point of interest is the story's unexpected depth. It's as much about Woody letting go of Andy as Andy letting go of Woody, plus a lot more than that. Whereas Up contained a 10 minute prologue so emotionally moving the rest of the film couldn't follow through on it, this has an opening that cleverly misleads you into expecting silliness, only to pull the rug out. The story keeps building and building until pulling the emotional trigger in the final minutes and earning it. There are action excursions to be sure but unlike Up they service the themes and plot that cleverly spoofs so many different genres of film and contains so many in-jokes you'd have to be constantly paying attention at the risk of missing anything. The rendering of Sunnyside as some kind of evil dictatorship for toys is clever, as we're a witness to many memorable scenes, such as a late night poker game and Buzz being interrogated under the hot lights. And it's worth repeating just how creepy looking that giant baby is (we're talking Child's Play kind of creepy). All the toys are embodied with distinctive characteristics and personalities by the voice actors and while Hanks and Allen are perfect as usual as our two heroes, the legendary Ned Beatty projects a certain grandfatherly warmth in the voice of Lotso that makes his villainous nature harder to comprehend, giving greater thematic weight to his actions. Helping further is the script containing a flashback sequence for this character so well thought out it could easily compete with most live action dramas in its storytelling reach.

Those who call this the best film of the year just need to wait until that feeling passes and it'll probably pass quickly, as it has with just about every other one of Pixar's past efforts. But I am curious how it'll hold up down the road and whether my admiration will dwindle as steadily. It really goes for the jugular in those final act as the story moves dangerously close to the "beyond" part of the phrase "To Infinity and Beyond" in a unanticipated way. It's been over ten years since the previous Toy Story sequel and it proves to be worth the wait, with time gap working in the favor of a story that deals entirely with the passage of time and letting go. The toys have aged and so has their owner, both arriving at the inevitable crossroads where they're forced to move on and there's no turning back. Kids who may have felt shut out or bored by the narrative sophistication of Ratatouille and Wall-E will probably have more to cheer about with Toy Story 3, while adults can appreciate acknowledgment of their daily struggle to somehow recapture the same happiness their toys once gave them.