In 2010 Oscilloscope Laboratories pulled off something of a miracle. The small distributor managed to earn Oren Moverman’s The Messenger a pair of Oscar nominations despite not having an overwhelmingly large Oscar campaigning budget. It was an example of the art doing the work on its own rather than money being used to influence a decision (something I hope they’re able to do again this year with Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk about Kevin).
Moverman’s next film, Rampart, reteams him with his Oscar-nominated star Woody Harrelson and just as he did when he was nominated for his Messenger screenplay, Moverman has again teamed on the script, this time with crime fiction novelist James Ellroy as the two have adapted Ellroy’s novel for the screen.
Along with Harrelson the film is loaded to the teeth with stars including Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Steve Buscemi, Cynthia Nixon, Ben Foster (whom also starred in The Messenger to rave reviews), Anne Heche, Ice Cube and Ned Beatty.
The story concerns the LAPD Rampart Division, centering on the last of the renegade cops, police officer Dave Brown (Harrelson) who is caught on tape “doing the people’s dirty work†and finds himself at the center of a vicious scandal. The days of being above the law are over. Now a poster boy for police corruption, Dave learns he’s been targeted by cop killers looking for revenge. Nothing is what it seems as Dave descends into the L.A. underworld and exacts his own brand of justice.
Today I have three new stills from the film including the one you see above and the two you see below. The film is in post-production and still without a distributor, which tells me it’s a likely candidate to be found at the Toronto International Film Festival where I hope I’ll see it before what I expect will be an Oscar run.
For larger looks at the two images below click here.
