Reviews
The Corruptor (1999)
Corrupted from the very beginning
In a world of no rules (as the log line says), films like this are bound to happen. Without a foundation from which to tell a story, corruption isn't just something that happens to be part of the title of this film, it's at the very core of why this film even exists.
Very briefly, this film is about two cops who work in the middle of gangland Chinatown in New York. One cop, Nick Chen (played by Chow Yun-Fat), knows that he has to break some rules to get to the bad guys. The other cop, Don Wallace (Mark Wahlberg) is a rookie cop who seems to be as straight-laced as Jimmy Stewart. So with this cliche all set, the film moves into a storyline of two gangs at war with each other and detectives Nick and Don dive in head first.
After all of the set-up then, the rest of the film is a very bad attempt at being clever: The double- and triple-crosses aren't nearly as surprising as finding the morning paper on your doorstep every morning. The action is gratuitous and lends nothing to the film, let alone the imagination. The violence is unbearable and most alarmingly, goes towards glorifying gang warfare and not discouraging it. The sex is... well, it's what it is in all movies these days: unnecessary, uninvolving, brutal, irresponsible, and stupid. The high-key lighting style of the cinematographer is completely out of place in this film since there's nothing to really be suspenseful about. And this film absolutely does not merit any comparison to the film-noir genre even though you get the sense (if being pounded over your head with something means "sense") that the director tries for it. For all of the black and white spaces created by using high-key lighting, the underpinning absence of a clear morality actually undermines this story instead of enhancing it.
Usually, audiences assume that when you're a cop, you stand for all that is good. Well, at least that's what people used to assume. In any case, even in an absence of a clear line of good and bad, a strong story with good, strong characters will arise and tell a tale that makes people think about what is good and bad. This film just makes you wonder if there are any good cops out there at all (I don't mean boy scouts).
Why does everyone have to be so corrupted in movies these days? Why does it have to be so dark? I don't believe the line that says, "It's dark because that's reality." It's only a portion of reality and even then, it's only because certain people in this society think it's cool to have a smoking gun and a smoking piece of garbage in your mouth. How dumb is that?
Bottom line is, this film lacks a moral underpinning that makes all movies great. Whether this morality is challenged, questioned, or turned upside-down makes no difference. At least a morality exists. In THE CORRUPTOR, there is no morality to do anything with. That's why in this film, the violence is gratuitous, the sex uninteresting, the double- and triple-crosses obvious. It's just a stupid movie.