Mr. Harrelson.

An edgy, prize-worthy performance by Woody Harrelson as uncomfortable and raw-knuckled as a bruised fist elevates Rampart. It’s a lacerating look at the life of a dirty cop, set during the immoral, violent and headline-making lawlessness of the Los Angeles Police Department in the Rampart squad scandals of 1999. The background and a lot of the thinly disguised facts assembled by the great crime writer James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential) have been fictionalized to concentrate on one man instead of a whole gang of rogue cops, but Oren Moverman’s sucker punch direction and script (co-written by Mr. Ellroy) reek of authenticity. Mr. Harrelson plays the corrupt police captain Dave Brown, who unhooked the buckles of law and order years earlier and is still a member of the LAPD. From keeping the unreported narcotics from his drug busts for personal use to bashing women at will, he’s man who not only refuses to play by the rules but no longer even knows what the rules are. His private life is just as wonky. Somehow he’s managed to father children by two sisters (Cynthia Nixon and Anne Heche), still slipping in and out of their houses unannounced. He’s loved by none, hated by all. His own daughter calls him “Date Rape” because years earlier, he killed a rapist and got away with it.

Stalking the dark streets in his black and white cruiser, a cigarette clenched between his teeth, he’s as much a force to reckon with as any criminal on the loose. Beating up suspects, making up charges illegally and arresting innocent people on a whim, Dave is a fiend with a badge, but it’s not long before local activists catch his brutality on TV and now his Rampart division faces disciplinary action. As the assistant DA prosecuting his case, Sigourney Weaver is already up to her earrings in lawsuits against the city, so Dave can see a downward spiral coming. We wait anxiously to see how it will happen and when. Robin Wright is a woman he meets in a bar who turns out to be a defense lawyer with a few tricks up her own sleeve. Ned Beatty is a retired cop with his own history of corruption who plays a pivotal role in Dave’s egocentric downfall. Ben Foster, Oscar-nominated for Mr. Moverman’s moving 2009 film The Messenger, contributes another colorful performance as a homeless man who witnessed one of Dave’s murders, and Ice Cube is fine as an internal affairs investigator. The elements click into place like the well-oiled parts in a clock.

Rampart is an unnerving warts-and-all portrait of a man staggering around in circles of arrogant self-deception. Despite some nausea from hand-held cameras, dismal lighting and busy jump cuts that challenge the concentration, the film works because of Mr. Harrelson’s magnetism. Even as a totally offensive goon with mob mentality, he has an irresistibly sympathetic quality, but Mr. Moverman’s crackerjack direction provides no easy way out for a filthy cop who digs his own hole and finds the only direction is down.

rreed@observer.com

RAMPART

Running Time 108 minutes

Written by James Ellroy and Oren Moverman

Directed by Oren Moverman

Starring Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster and Sigourney Weaver

2.5/4

Photo via Flickr

While the NYPD continues to make promises of an investigation of Deputy Inspector Anthony "Tony Bologna" Bologna's use of pepper-spray on unarmed female protesters during Saturday's Occupy Wall Street protests, he has yet to be disciplined. Despite videos showing two separate incidents of what appears to be unwarranted and abusive use of the weapon, Inspector Bologna still remains in active service. While that may seem like a grave injustice to women like Chelsea Elliott who were harmed during the attacks, the public outcry has been strong enough for the offices of Manhattan D.A. Cyrus R. Vance Jr. to launch a separate investigation into the case.

A spokesperson from the D.A.'s office told The New York Times today:

“The district attorney’s office takes all allegations of police misconduct seriously...(the arrests are) being reviewed under the standard procedure.”

While that might not sound very reassuring and pretty damn vague -- there was absolutely no mention of a specific officer or incident -- a source that had been briefed on the situation told The New York Times that Inspector Bologna's "episode" with the protesters were being investigated specifically due to the large amount of complaints the city received after the videos went viral.

Fun fact: Anthony Bologna works in the NYPD's counterterrorism unit, and according to one (anonymous) officer on the scene, wasn't intending to spray the women, but was aiming for "some men who he believed were pushing up against officers and causing a confrontation that put officers at risk of injury." Let's watch that video again, shall we?

It's true that we only have one angle of the incident to go on, but unless Inspector Bologna was aiming for the back of the head of the single male individual in black who was in the same vicinity of the meshed-in ladies, it appears that the spray was either indiscriminate, or intended for the women he was aiming for. Unless of course, the NYPD is referring to this second video, in which it is unclear who Inspector Bologna was spraying at...but since the police department's official stance is that pepper-spray was only deployed once during the protests, they are in a tough position of having to refer to evidence they won't admit the existence of in order to make that case.

At the time of this writing, the NYPD still has not responded to our inquiries regarding the second video.

The New York Observer was reserving judgment on Officer Bologna, because there is a lot of misinformation being spread out there by both the NYPD and "Occupy New York" sympathizers. But now a second video has surfaced of Bologna using the pepper-spray on another group during Saturday's protests, just to get them out of his way.

The New York Times said Bologna's nonchalant attitude "looked as if he were spraying cockroaches." Then it turned out that this particular officer has a history of complaints regarding protestor abuse. The longer the NYPD sits on this, the worse it's going to get, as evidenced by Lawrence O'Donnell's seven minute tirade demanding the heads of Officer Bologna and his superiors at police department.

NYPD spokesperson Paul J. Browne told The New York Times' that the deputy had used the spray "appropriately," and that it was deployed only once during the protests. We've put in a request to the NYPD's press department for an updated statement now that this second video has been released. We'll update if and when we get a response.