rating: ★★★

Is it possible for a man to be entirely evil?

In many ways this is the question that director Oren Moverman poses in Rampart. It is a question that I still find myself unable to answer. Woody Harrelson’s intense portrayal of corrupt LAPD officer and Vietnam War veteran David Brown does not make it easy to come up with an answer.

Woody Harrelson plays David Brown, a bad-to-the-bones LAPA officer, in Oren Moverman’s frustrating, complex drama.

Brown is hard-headed. In many situations it would be easy to say that he is misunderstood, but Moverman wants it to be clear that this man does not deserve that assessment. Brown shows from the beginning of the film that chaos and brutality are what he enjoys about his job. He feels no remorse when it comes to this and it leads to him doing incredibly idiotic things on the job. Seeing the character on the job gives him no redeemable features and many times is utterly frustrating just to watch.

The film is set in 1999 Los Angeles during a large scandal involving the Rampart police department. It’s summer time making it feel like the sun is beating down on you adding to the tension of simply watching Harrelson’s performance.

Brown has two children and two failed marriages, except his ex-wives are sisters (Anne Heche and Cynthia Nixon). He attempts to keep himself in their lives by living in the back of their house and consistently making a fool of himself by showing his ignorance about modern society. This is the one instance where the film is able to make him feel human, though it does not last very long.

As the film progresses, Brown finds himself in serious trouble for beating an innocent man to near death for hitting his car and attempting to flee. He is repeatedly backed into corners, but makes everyone around him believe that he is more than able to squirm his way out of it. He becomes paranoid, thinking that everyone around him is a spy, possibly from his time spent in Vietnam.

Of course, brutal and violent acts are nothing new to Brown — not only from being in the war. His nickname on the force is “Date Rape Dave,” which he got from allegedly killing a rapist who was found not guilty.

Brown gives hints that he can transform, that he can be a better person and change his racist, bigoted, sexist ways. However, time and again he goes full circle to show that he is completely one-dimensional. It is difficult to watch such an irredeemably-bad man do his job and react to the situations he is put in. It is even worse to have him as the protagonist when it’s so damn frustrating to watch.

This is also what makes it compelling. The unbelievable ugliness of Brown and how ignorant he is to it all is astounding. It’s impressive how the movie walks the line of being absorbing and making you want to slam your head against a wall.

The film is paced in a very deliberate way intending to show that Brown is truly an evil man in every respect. His love for his family is misguided and his influence causes them lots of hardship. The wives and women in his life all quickly find out that he thinks nothing of them, that they are only there to fill his needs. He proves himself to be a totally hollow and heartless human being who learns nothing from the wrongs he so clearly commits.

Rampart is a powerful character study that frustrates just as much as it intrigues, while it searches to find even an ounce of decency within its protagonist.

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Photo: Supplied