• A cop drama that looks like every cliché on paper—done with ingenuity and nearly flawless execution- a great film
  • Starts with bang– hand-held chase- a wild flashback in washed out color
  • Then at the inquest we have a tracking shot behind the head of Jason Patric – another really well-done sequence
  • Shallow focus flashback of the driving incident in the narrative—there are shadows under the bridge
  • Carnahan goes to fast-motion a few times
  • Carnahan’s stories are masculine—The Grey—violent, raw
  • Liotta is a wrecking ball—well-dressed, big and bloated, a bruiser—complex- a little like Russell Crowe’s Bud White in La Confidential—great shot of him between the bars at a dinner—one of Liotta’s best performances
  • A bad split screen interviewing people in Detroit montage
  • Location in Detroit is a character- dilapidated and abandoned– it is cold and gray out– never any sun—like NYC in the old Lumet and crime films in the 70’s—a character
  • Raw, lots of energy
  • The John Ortiz scene, pant-less, amazing- what a great 5 minute performance
  • Highlight of the film is a shot through the car window with reflections on both cops, trees and branches, it’s stunning. They are talking about their wives and it goes into a monologue from Liotta—great action and direction
  • Loud, chaotic, harsh lighting (purposeful), cold, shouting, goatees, blood
  • Wife who complains, dirty cop—lots of clichés but Carnahan and Liotta make the film rise above
  • Busta Rhymes is good here
  • The decrepit building final set piece is striking
  • Narrative issues—recording confessions? Character motivations for major plot points at the end make it tough
  • R/HR border