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Truly Dreadful Film

Simply Perfect

best movie i've ever seen.

Absolutely the worst movie.

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.

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.

This film was supposed to be a film noir, except that the character development of everyone except for Tom Berenger's character was flimsy. As a result, it's hard to buy the plot twists. The characters needed more development -- most noir characters are one-note, but those notes have to be played clearly. If the, say, gruff but sympathetic boss doesn't come across as sympathetic, you care less if he is killed. (Note: this is a random example, not from the film.) On a side note, the lighting (or cinematography) of this film was awful, making all of the actors look terrible. In particular, Lori Heuring, who has an asymmetrical face, was shot from an angle that made her appear in some light to have a harelip and in others to make her look like she was slightly sneering (the actress herself is extremely pretty in other films, so I think I'm right to blame the camera work). Anyway, that's a small quibble with an otherwise bad film.

A tough cop is taken off a major drug case because of his 'cowboy' antics and finds himself assigned to a case where all he has is a severed hand floating in the water. Luckily for him the hand still had fingers so the prints lead us to a missing city hall employee.Exploring the girl's past leads us into involvement with a Chinese drug gang which are hero has reason to detest. Next we are led to a pedophiliac elected official, blackmail, several dancers, some murders and dirty cops.Berenger carries the film singlehandedly and it follows a predictable course until the end. The 10 minute conclusion takes us thru more twists than most mystery writers can concoct in several novels so most viewers should come away well satisfied.