Published via Ecency

(source: tmdb.org)

James Ellroy became one of the most distinguished authors of crime fiction in modern America, mainly because of the specifically Los Angeles setting, plots, characters and style in his works that made him contemporary equivalent of Raymond Chandler. His literary work also served as basis for various films, including 1981 debut novel Brown’s Requiem, adapted in 1998 as eponymous film written and directed by Jason Freeland.

The protagonist, played by Michael Rooker, is Fritz Brown, former LAPD detective whose career ended in disgrace because of drinking problem. He is now sober, but nevertheless forced to make ends meet as repo man and part-time private investigator. One day his office is visited by obese and unkept Freddy “Fat Dog” Baker (played by Will Sasso) who asks him to watch over his teenage sister Jane (played by Selma Blair). Under normal circumstances, Brown would chase Fat Dog out of office, but large wad of cash makes him take the job. While following Jane, she discovers that she lives with Sol Kupferman (played by Eliott Gould), wealthy but shady businessman who is old enough to be her grandfather. He also discovers that Kupferman is connected with Haywood Catcarth (played by Brion James), high ranking LAPD official who had him thrown out of the force. Before Brown gets to use these findings to his advantage, murders start to occur.

Jason Freeland was one of great fans of Ellroy in 1980s and actually bought film rights to the novel. His attempts to gather budget necessary for production weren’t successful until L.A. Confidential, another adaptation of Ellroy’s work, made the project interesting to producers. This was double edged sword for Freeland, because his work was bound to look cheaper, less glamorous and ultimately worse in inevitable comparisons with Hanson’s masterpiece. On the other hand, Freeland provided film with very effective soundtrack by Cynthia Millar, which created more than adequate “noirish” atmosphere for these sort of films. Even better was his casting. Michael Rooker, character actor specialised in role of tough men, was also one of executive producers and he worked very hard to deliver convincing and effective portrayal of detective always having to fight alcoholic urges. Role of Fritz Brown is one of the better in his long career.

Unfortunately, Freeland was less successful as scriptwriter. While trying to fit Ellroy’s complex story into feature film format, he had made it indistinguishable from those in many noir and neo-noir films that were being made in Hollywood at the time, like Benton’s Twilight. The ending looks too hastened and suggests serious problems with budget, making comparisons with many of those films even worse. Freeland and Rooker should nevertheless be praised for making a film under such circumstances and their work, despite flaws, should be recommended to fans of “noirish” thrillers and Ellroy’s fiction.

RATING: 5/10 (++)