this movie, with its refusal to bend to tired dialogue, plot devices or cliched moralizing, asks you to care about a character best-described by one of his daughters as racist, chauvinist, homophobic

Booooring. No plot. No resolution. Didn't care about anyone at the end of the movie, or at any point on the way through. None of Harrelson's relationships made sense.

This was a real "downer" movie with a terrible ending. Why do investors waste money on trash like this?
The only thing that made this worth watching was Woody Harrelson who was exceptional and carried the whole pix. Where have all the good writers gone?

A really great movie. Harrelson gives a great performance as a rampart cop that refuses to change his old school ways. Caught up in addiction both chemical and sexual he winds his way through a nightmarish journey between his life as a cop and family man. It is a great story that is well told through Harrelson's performance as well as a few other famous actors that make cameos throughout the film. I highly recommend this film.… Collapse

Why do people think it is interesting to tell nihilistic stories? I don't get it. The movie is nothing more than spending 100 minutes in another person's hell. What can I take away from it? I guess that we must prefer anything that keeps people away from the abyss.

Good movie but without the boom factor! Harrelson plays a character who confuses, or is it damned or are paranoid. the story leaves you blank, perhaps because the trunk is a lack of something to shudder. only light is a line that takes you to almost 2 hours of a man with problems.

What a reeking, heaping, sack of crap. Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson) lives with two women who are sisters and he has a daughter by each one. All four supposedly live together? If that isn't far fetched enough for you, he meets and picks up strange women in bars and is in the sack with them within minutes. This movie was excessively, and extremely painful to watch.

i was really excited to see this movie, but after i saw it i was really disappointed. the acting is great all around, even ice-cube was good, but the movie suffers from what i saw as an incomplete story. it has an interesting story but nothing seems to be resolved at the end. one might argue that the movie is really a character study of the descend of Rampart, but when i was watching it i thought Rampart was already at rock bottom at the beginning of the movie so there was nowhere for him to go. in all good acting, but i would have preferred if they focused more on the dirty cop part of the story.… Expand

Woody harrelson delivers a strong performance in a weak plotted film. The character study for me did not keep my interest. There were extremely well made scenes that brought me into this man's madness. On the contrary the film did not deliver enough intrigue to keep the viewers attention. For a similar character study watch drive. For a better dirty cop movie watch Herzog's bad lieutenant.

Let's say Rampart has good portion for dirty cop movie; sex, violence, breaking law and trouble movie. But it's not my movie, I don't like it in any capacity or maybe Oscar voter too?

Woody Harrelson gave a great performance but that's as good as it gets with this movie. There is no reason to see this unless you are bored and enjoy wasting your time, and If you are so bored that you consider watching this movie, go and buy some drugs or something instead , at least that way you will get more for your money!

Don't listen to these other "users," who apparently want some simple little story with a clearly spelled out plot and well specified resolution. Instead, this is a great character study of a complicated, many sided, tightly wound sociopath decompensating (a psychiatric term) under the stress of a hundred different things falling apart in his previously well (albeit precariously)-structured life. Harrelson and the director beautifully convey both these different sides and this decompensation., and it's a joke that he and at least some of the other members of this striking ensemble cast (e.g., Ned Beatty, Robin Wright, Ben Foster. Bree Larsen, to name a few) haven't been nominated for Oscars, particularly given the other nominees. Great direction by Moverman (whose first feature The Messenger was also very moving) and cinematography ny Bukowski.This clearly isn't a movie for everyone, especially those who prefer sleeky, feel good, emotionally manipulative movies such as War Horse (ugh), Extremely Loud..., and The Help; and its exclusion from the Oscar list speaks volumes about the mindset and aesthetic of the average Academy member. There are a few wrong notes and an unnecessary scene taken straight out of Shame; but overall, I strongly recommend this movie for those who aren't easily disturbed and who aren't just seeking out pleasant diversions.… Expand

I really wanted to see this movie, and after seeing it, I wanted to like it. However, this movie is flat out terrible. It's a shame, because Woody Harrelson is truly amazing in his role. He's in literally every scene and does everything he can to carry the movie. After his performance though, there isn't one other redeeming aspect of this movie. There is basically NO plot, and the little there is doesn't make any sense. Not because it's complicated, but because it never goes anywhere, and when it does the writers seem to withhold certain aspects of the plot. They must do this to create some sort of "mystery", but the plot is so simple that it's not necessary. When the movie does end, I still didn't fully understand what the he** happened for what was a very dull 2 hours. This wasn't the intention of writers, it was a lazy half-a$$ed script. EVERYBODY behind the scenes of this movie should be disgusted with themselves, for bringing their D game at best, when Woody brought his A game. What a wasted performance, and just proof that you need a whole lot more than a strong acting performance to make a movie good... or even halfway decent for that matter.… Expand

I was expecting something a little darker, closer to The Bad Lieutenant. To the contrary, it's fairly light fare. Woody is excellent in the lead role, bringing wit, humor, and more compassion than I expected, but as a huge The Shield fan, I kept found myself comparing his role to that of Vic Mackie and the strike team. The key difference is that Date Rape's character is a lone wolf, Vietnam Vet who is extremely intelligent and obviously far more tortured. I'm not a huge fan of the ending - which seems to be a trend in movies over the last couple of years. I remember trying it in a writing seminar and got destroyed for it. But I won't hold that against it!… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Still waiting for the movie to end quite frankly. This movie draws you in with it's over the top portrayal of a bent cop who dishes out "street justice" mainly to thugs and cretins that deserve it, but he obviously has a twisted personal life as evidenced by the fact that he (sometimes) lives with the two women he has children with. Making the home life even more ridiculous is the fact that those women are sisters. Making one of his daughters ask him if they are "inbred".

The movie creates a web of lies and conspiracy, perceived or real, that's for you to decide. Throws in some big (ish) names stars to try and add some legitimacy to the story but fails miserably because NONE of the conflicts in the movie are resolved. No, not one. The movie goes off with no resolution except for the one you may make up in your mind.

And ending like this to a movie this complex is simply lazy. If you can't write an ending then don't make the movie. Woody Harrelson plays a "dirty" cop, but is surrounded by people trying to catch him that are just as, or more, dirty as he is.

If you like movies that you have to make up your own ending you'll love this one. If you like a resolution to your stories, let this one fade away.… Expand

This has a Drive-ish atmosphere. There is something missing in the storyline that might have put the movie among the best this year had that missing been in it. The only consolation that you get from watching this movie is Woody Harrelson's acting which is worthy of a nomination, otherwise you need to constantly pinch yourself to keep you awake.

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