True Blue (2001)

People are voting emotionally.

Captivating movie !

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

The title, "True Blue", must refer to the thick layer of cigarette smoke that hangs over nearly every scene in this film. The actors, led by Tom Berenger, smoke as though they believe it will ward off everything from vampires to the common cold. For a movie made in the era of enlightenment about the dangers of nicotine, the smoking is epic in its intensity.Along with the burnt-out cigarette butts, True Blue is a burnt-out cop movie, and features just about every cliché of the genre. There are so many familiar elements that it wouldn't come as huge surprise to learn that the film had been compiled from a colour-coded file of stock situations.Does any of this sound familiar? A beautiful party girl is murdered because of her involvement in a kinky, sex-ring. Prominent citizens and pillars of the community are revealed as part of the aforementioned ring. Much of the investigation takes place in a strip-club with naked pole-dancers in the background. The most unexpected characters turn out to be the real perpetrators.Tom Berenger plays a hard-boiled detective and burnt-out cop called Rembrandt Macy, Rem for short. With his wrinkled, "Columbo" raincoat and constant haze of smoke, Rem fits into the backstreets of Los Angeles like an unemptied garbage can – never has a character been more in need of nicotine patches or a dry cleaner.The film starts with Rem investigating two, seemingly unrelated murders. One of the victims is a young woman, and Rem is led to her roommate, Nikki, played by Lori Heuring.Rem and his partner Beck, a no-nonsense blonde played by Pamela Gibney, track various clues that lead to gangsters in Chinatown, and to an S&M sex club patronised by some well-known civic leaders. Eventually, Rem's investigations lead him back to Nikki with whom he has been having an affair. In a series of revelations, which go from ridiculous to outrageous, her role is revealed.Rem's other associate is Tiger; his ex-detective partner played by Soon-Tek Ho. Tiger is quirky and Asian and lives on a houseboat. Despite the isolation this would entail, he has his finger on the city's pulse. Of course, a quirky associate is de rigueur in a burnt-out cop movie, and Tiger is definitely at the extreme end of the quirk factor.True Blue was written and directed by J.S. Cardone. In his attempts to surprise the audience, he created a triple-twist ending that is almost a send-up of twist endings. It involves nearly everyone in the cast and comes off more like the surprise adventure gift that Michael Douglas received in David Fincher's "The Game".No amount of surface gloss and competent acting can overcome a script that revels in so much cliché. That Cardone the director thought that Cardone the writer's plot would work shows the traps that await the auteur.

What happened to Tom Berenger's career? Is he difficult to work with? Or a poor judge of scripts? I always found him effective and interesting, and indeed he makes the beginning of "True Blue" interesting as he plays a cop with the unlikely name of Rembrandt Macy. I also liked the casting of the hip young cop team he's in charge of. And who can complain about Lori Heuring as the movie's mystery girl? However this cast is wasted as the film plods on and tries to startle us with a few switcheroos, but they are wasted as the audience has long fallen asleep before they unravel. Berenger appears to have happily settled in the world of direct to video movie releases occupied by the likes of Michael Biehn and Tim Matheson. Too bad. I think he's better than this. I had never heard of this film before I saw it in the library. Now I know why.

TV thrillers. So many of them and they all somehow mesh together in your mind. It's sad to see Tom Berenger, a quality actor, not getting any good roles these days in movies, so this is basically what we can expect in the future. That said, True Blue gave me quite a shock; in the sense that I actually found it entertaining.Tom stars as a broken down, physically aggressive, alcoholic detective with a past (do they come any other way?) who's investigating a crime that may uncover some police corruption. So who's really a True Blue?This is actually a fairly well written yarn, fast paced and well acted. Tom is solid as the stereotypical detective and the rest do a good job as well. The plot is well constructed and offers a few unexpected twists in the end. It has that TV feel to it, but it does well what it sets out to do; entertain those less demanding. This is no Chinatown, but it's a solid mystery none the less.

Perhaps it was my slightly lowered expectations, but I found this movie to be perfectly adequate and competent. I thought it was interesting and I was drawn to the screen until the end.It's got that moody film noir look to it, and there were times when the lighting wasn't too flattering on the cast. I guess kudos should go out to the stars who didn't mind being seen in such a light (though none of them ever looked really bad). And true, the plot was somewhat complex at times, but I didn't have too much trouble following it, and I am notorious for forgetting characters' names and losing track of extremely intricate plot details.Tom Berenger gave a very convincing and heartfelt performance as anantisocial policeman who, admittedly, is no longer in the full blush of youth. While Berenger may be thicker around the middle than he was in the days of"Major League", he looked just fine for the (presumably) 40-something character he was playing. Besides, his hair always looked great, so that's gotta be worth something.Lori Heuring never seemed to give off much charisma as far as I am concerned(but I may not be appreciating all of her assets, since I am female). But, she was competent in her role. Barry Newman, Soon Tek-Oh and the rest of the castwere fine as well.The plot was interesting, with plenty of twists that kept me guessing until the end. I enjoyed seeing a film that was a little more unpredictable. Extra points go for keeping me on my toes! (I usually pride myself in being able to guess "who dunnit" early in the film, but not so with this movie.)While the pace of this movie may have been slow at times, it didn't bother me that much. The romance in this movie (such as it was) seemed rather flat aswell. However, this was still a perfectly satisfactory movie, and while far from perfect, certainly is worth a look if you are interested in moody noir-typemysteries.*****SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT*******SPOILER ALERT******DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT A VAGUE BUT IMPORTANT DETAIL ABOUT THE END OF THIS FILM!There is a scene early in the film where the Berenger character is talking to the guy who works in the morgue, and says to him, "Boy, I hope I never end up onone of your slabs." My ears pricked up, and I had this sinking feeling thatBerenger's character would, indeed, end up on a slab in the morgue by the end of the film. I was SO glad when my hunch turned out to be incorrect. I guess I'm turning into an old softie, but I hate seeing the protagonist / hero end up on a slab at the end of a movie!