Keanu Reeves is Detective Tom Ludlow who has a reputation for mixing things up and coming out on top when it comes to criminals.
Forest Whitaker is his supervisor Captain Jack Wander, and he has ambitions to keep moving up the ladder, with LA Mayor as perhaps his ultimate goal.
Hugh Laurie of TV's "House" fame is Captain James Biggs, working inside to investigate possible police corruption.
The story hinges on the broad premise that corruption is an integral part of how the LA police department gets things done. The corruption is "managed" to make sure all the good guys are protected. If you have to break into a home and shoot everyone, then there is a way to make it look like the officer was fired on first and had no choice.
Now I suspect this is a gross exaggeration of how things really work, but this is a movie after all. I actually like the story, but I never felt that I was watching real policemen at work. I always felt like I was watching actors pretending to be policemen, and some of the dialog and acting seemed too contrived.
Still, my wife and a I were entertained.
SPOILERS: Tom's former friend and partner, Washington, was rumored to be "dropping a dime" (talking to internal affairs) about Tom. Tom is upset, follows him to a convenience store, where two men with automatic rifles shoot the clerk then kill Washinton. But Tom is only grazed. It turns out the masked bandits were actually police from another district, and the whole thing was set up by Captain Jack Wander to protect himself, and to further his goals for more power and money. Tom eventually gets on top of all that, saves his own skin, and disposes of Jack. Biggs of IA ends up protecting Tom because Jack was their target all along.
Forest Whitaker is his supervisor Captain Jack Wander, and he has ambitions to keep moving up the ladder, with LA Mayor as perhaps his ultimate goal.
Hugh Laurie of TV's "House" fame is Captain James Biggs, working inside to investigate possible police corruption.
The story hinges on the broad premise that corruption is an integral part of how the LA police department gets things done. The corruption is "managed" to make sure all the good guys are protected. If you have to break into a home and shoot everyone, then there is a way to make it look like the officer was fired on first and had no choice.
Now I suspect this is a gross exaggeration of how things really work, but this is a movie after all. I actually like the story, but I never felt that I was watching real policemen at work. I always felt like I was watching actors pretending to be policemen, and some of the dialog and acting seemed too contrived.
Still, my wife and a I were entertained.
SPOILERS: Tom's former friend and partner, Washington, was rumored to be "dropping a dime" (talking to internal affairs) about Tom. Tom is upset, follows him to a convenience store, where two men with automatic rifles shoot the clerk then kill Washinton. But Tom is only grazed. It turns out the masked bandits were actually police from another district, and the whole thing was set up by Captain Jack Wander to protect himself, and to further his goals for more power and money. Tom eventually gets on top of all that, saves his own skin, and disposes of Jack. Biggs of IA ends up protecting Tom because Jack was their target all along.