Ecklian Reviews: Corrupt Cop Movies

Mark Eckel, Director, Mahseh Center, Lake Bruce, IN 

Growing up, I was taught to wave to farmers because they fed us and policemen because they protected us.  If I were a police officer today I would wonder if anyone believed such a thing anymore.  The public is being fed a constant barrage of negative portrayals on the big screen concerning three major groups: conservative politicians, business people, and the police.  Controlling the images we see, Hollywood can corrupt thinking about any social category.  There seems to be a cultural war against authority.  Anyone who confronts my individualistic morality becomes my adversary. 

Denzel Washington delivered an Academy Award for just such a performance in Training Day: the cops are just as bad as the robbers.  Ethan Hawke’s “good” character is caught in a malevolent maelstrom.  The only way out is to become “bad” to overcome “the bad.”  The Departed has a similar refrain: moles and leaks exist for back room payoffs.  Only killing cops gives closure.  Assault on Precinct 13 actually makes the prisoners, the heroes.  Dark Blue intimates that corruption is “the way things are done.”  16 Blocks again suggests that most uniforms are not to be trusted.  Pride and Glory recounts the travails of a family which subverts itself by silence, turning its collective back on its own vices.  Any number of films would fit the profile.  To be sure, redemptive characters do step up in some of the films mentioned.  And while good cops punctuate the conflict in movies like L. A. Confidential and S. W. A. T., the action is driven by those who cannot be trusted within the force (Walking Tall: The Payback).  

There are good lessons to be learned.  Keep your hands out of the cookie jar (The Corrupter).  A synonymous point is also true: the more cookies one eats, the harder it is to stop (To Live and Die in L. A.).  Sometimes the lesson is corruption can only be overcome by more and worse violence (Above The Law).  The viewer certainly understands that the real good guys must be better in every way than their mercenary adversaries (Kiss the Dragon).  At times, courage against all odds wins the day (Copland).  And for the movies that teach us bad people must be stopped by excellent detectives (Seven) there are ten more movies that excel at pointing out the “bad guys” are not much worse than the “good guys” (A Perfect World, Cleaner, Lakeview Terrace). 

In contrast, The Asphalt Jungle directed by John Huston sets the bar for exceptional filmmaking and elevation of the law as righteous.  Evil men and their schemes are brilliant in planning and execution.  However, “the best laid plans” begin to unravel simply because evil begets more evil.  It is only the concerted effort of dedicated police officers that stops wrongdoing in its tracks.  I highly recommend reviewing older films for their dedication to goodness in law enforcement.  While by no means am I suggesting our culture was more ethically upright then, some films lend themselves to train our sensibilities toward what is right.  As a teacher, I want to encourage students to reconsider authority in a better light.  But I may have to leave the “new release” section to find what I want in “the classics” of my video store to do it.  

And I still wave to policemen.

NOTE–Most of the movies mentioned above are rated R.  My recommendation is to view The Asphalt Jungle which would be rated PG by today’s standards.

Ecklian Reviews: An American Carol

Mark Eckel, Director, Mahseh Center, Lake Bruce, IN 

Political conservatives unite!  In a not-so-subtle attempt to pillory Michael Moore, David Zucker (Airplane, Naked Gun) throws red meat to all the dogs of cultural warfare.  Tired of anti-Christian tirades and conservative bashing from Hollywood elites, Zucker decided to direct a film taking on the tyrants of Tinseltown.  Imagine . . . The American military is elevated to a positive status.  Preservation of U. S. ideals and ideas is sacrosanct.  John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address is Marley’s ghost, rattling the chains of freedom to Michael’s cowardly Scrooge.  And, for once, Islamo-Fascists are shown to be who they are: small minded men who simply desire destruction and domination.  The terrorist leader (played with great a palm by Robert Davi) guides his bumbling companions through their various foiled plots: a reminder that we have done a good job stopping our enemies’ terrorist strikes.  One remembers after watching such a film, that America is a good place full of good people who do good things for others.  

Political satire leaves political correctness in tatters.  A Broadway-esque number lampooning Left-leaning college professors’ tirades in U.S. classrooms scores points in every stanza.  The ludicrous nature of equating Islamic terrorism with supposed Christian “atrocities” is shown as utter foolishness via video-exposé.  “What If?” historical moments make their mark: anti-war viewpoints might have left us with continued slavery in the 21^st century without the Civil War or an Islamic state in Hollywood.  “McCarthy-ism” does not exist, even though elites want to maintain a dead body in the coffin with the makeup of making more movies on the subject.  And ACLU zombies?!  Yes! 

Various conservative and libertarian actors create laughable, laudable characters giving a point-of-view hardly ever heard from California.  Kelsey Grammar is General George Patton who marches Michael’s character through conservative basic training.  Jon Voight plays a somber General George Washington, giving a subdued performance in a movie full of hilarity.  A moving, lump-in-throat moment comes when the wreckage of The Twin Towers is revealed, with the words, “This is the dust of three thousand souls.”  Dennis Hopper, James Woods, Gail O’Grady, and other right-of-center luminaries enter the stage, adding their considerable conservative voices to the script.  Special mention must be given Trace Atkins as “the spirit of things yet to come.”  A gallery full of American servicemen serves as the backdrop for pro-American country music finale. 

As in Dicken’s A Christmas Carol the American Scrooge Michael no-not Moore (Kevin Farley) reforms his treasonous ways by movie’s end.  Repenting of his aid to our enemies, Michael finds himself on the receiving end of liberal anger and back-patting American pride.  In truth, this is a bad movie.  I am NOT a fan of the Dumb and Dumber genre.  Yet I rented this film from my local video outlet to lend my dollars in economic support of one conservative voice in Hollywood.  So, here is to all those who spurn the current “black listing” of conservatives on the Left Coast.  May their tribe increase.  May their voice be heard.  May their love of country be our own. 

Rated PG-13 for crude humor and a great deal of Michael no-not Moore slapping.