"Vice" is a low budget cop noir movie where everyone is flawed, corrupt and/or dying.
It tries to be another "LA Confidential" or even "Street Kings" but falls short due to its simple characters and sets and limited plot.
Like other cop noir, this one begins with a voice-over. Michael Madsen's "Walker" stands in a church observing how no one is really alive. We're just all dead or dying. From there we jump to streetwalker sex and then a drug bust gone bad. During the take down, one of the dealers escapes in a bloody shootout - setting up the rest of the movie. Cops involved in the bust start dying and the Feds come in to investigate.
So who's killing the vice cops? Is it vengeful drug dealers - or members of the unit with secrets to hide? Or maybe it's a homicide cop on the take? Soon no one trusts anyone and everyone is a suspect.
We'd care more about the answers to those questions if the movie had more depth or complexity. It does not. The main character, Madsen's "Walker," is the typical blunt instrument. His main skill is dogged determination. His job is to find out who's killing his vice detectives and why. The rest of his crew is similarly one dimensional, making it hard to care about anyone as they die.
The limited sets contribute to this feeling of apathy. Walker moves in circle that soon becomes repetitive. It's back and forth between the cop shop, a bar and his car. He's like a player caught in an endless video game loop with no way out.
The best part of this film is watching Executive Producer (yes EP) Daryl Hannah slum around. Her "Salt" is a pick-up truck driving undercover narc who looks like Liv Tyler on a bad hair day. The most innocent of the vice cops, Hannah's "Salt" spends most of the movie with her beautiful baby blues covered by black bangs as if she doesn't want to see all the corruption around her.
The movie does end with a nice twist and since everyone has secrets, there are enough red herring to keep you guessing until the end.
My advice, get this one when you have a free video rental coupon.
It tries to be another "LA Confidential" or even "Street Kings" but falls short due to its simple characters and sets and limited plot.
Like other cop noir, this one begins with a voice-over. Michael Madsen's "Walker" stands in a church observing how no one is really alive. We're just all dead or dying. From there we jump to streetwalker sex and then a drug bust gone bad. During the take down, one of the dealers escapes in a bloody shootout - setting up the rest of the movie. Cops involved in the bust start dying and the Feds come in to investigate.
So who's killing the vice cops? Is it vengeful drug dealers - or members of the unit with secrets to hide? Or maybe it's a homicide cop on the take? Soon no one trusts anyone and everyone is a suspect.
We'd care more about the answers to those questions if the movie had more depth or complexity. It does not. The main character, Madsen's "Walker," is the typical blunt instrument. His main skill is dogged determination. His job is to find out who's killing his vice detectives and why. The rest of his crew is similarly one dimensional, making it hard to care about anyone as they die.
The limited sets contribute to this feeling of apathy. Walker moves in circle that soon becomes repetitive. It's back and forth between the cop shop, a bar and his car. He's like a player caught in an endless video game loop with no way out.
The best part of this film is watching Executive Producer (yes EP) Daryl Hannah slum around. Her "Salt" is a pick-up truck driving undercover narc who looks like Liv Tyler on a bad hair day. The most innocent of the vice cops, Hannah's "Salt" spends most of the movie with her beautiful baby blues covered by black bangs as if she doesn't want to see all the corruption around her.
The movie does end with a nice twist and since everyone has secrets, there are enough red herring to keep you guessing until the end.
My advice, get this one when you have a free video rental coupon.