The Screen Addict | Dark Blue

David Ayer is a fine director, but where he really excels is in screenwriting.

In my opinion, the films for which Ayer just wrote and left directing to someone else, are standouts. Obvious examples are U-571 (2000), The Fast and the Furious (2001) and Training Day (2001), but today I want to write a couple of words about Ayer’s James Ellroy adaptation Dark Blue (2002).

Corrupt cops are a theme in Ayer’s oeuvre, and DB is no exception. The film is centered around the aftermath of the Rodney King scandal, and specifically the dissension it caused within the L.A. police force.

Lots of meaty parts in a story like this, so we can feast our eyes on marquee names like Kurt Russel, Ving Rhames, Brendan Gleeson and Jonathan Banks. Russel in particular is excellent as always, as a racist, dirty cop who stumbles across extensive corruption throughout his department.

As is custom in Ayer’s films, the cops in DB are mostly hard-drinking, rule-bending SoBs, often just as crooked as the perps they are hunting down. The similarities with TD are abundant, and DB would definitely make for a handsome double-feature with the Denzel Washington - Ethan Hawke starrer.

The late Nineties and early Aughts saw a surge of corrupt-cop flicks, many of which written by Ayer. In addition to TD and DB, the prolific writer-director turned in Harsh Times (2005), Street Kings (2008), End of Watch (2012) and Sabotage (2014). Not to mention the more popcorn-y S.W.AT. (2003).

Ayer is without a doubt the go-to guy for the sub-genre, but he presumably inspired other filmmakers as well. Kindred spirit Joe Carnahan made a splash with Narc (2002), Smokin’ Aces (2006) and Pride and Glory (2008), Antoine Fuqua revisited his TD subject matter with Brooklyn’s Finest (2009), and even James Mangold and Martin Scorsese joined the force with Cop Land (1997) and The Departed (2006), respectively.

Next up for Ayer are remakes of The Dirty Dozen (1967) and The Wild Bunch (1969), but I’d sure love to see him one day return to the world of crooked cops.

The representation of police corruption in film is rich enough to write an entire essay on – and I’m sure some film student out there has – but my paper-writing days are long behind me. For now, let’s just stick to the movies!

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