Corruptor, The (1999)

reviewed by
Nathaniel R. Atcheson


The Corruptor (1999)
Director: James Foley
Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Mark Wahlberg, Ric Young, Jon Kit Lee, Elizabeth
Lindsey, Byron Mann, Andrew Pang
Screenplay: Robert Pucci
Producers: Dan Halsted
Runtime: 100 min.
US Distribution: New Line Cinema
Rated R: Violence, language, sexuality

Copyright 1998 Nathaniel R. Atcheson

The Corruptor is a big silly mess of an action movie, complete with pointless plot turns and gratuitous violence. It's not abhorrent, or even blatantly unlikable, but it doesn't make a shred of sense. And whose idea was it to have the director of Glengarry Glen Ross direct an action film? James Foley knows a lot about characters and acting, and those are the strengths of The Corruptor. But the quiet scenes clash with the ludicrous action nonsense, and the result is less like a movie and more like a derailed train.

At least we have Chow Yun-Fat in the lead role. Chow plays Nick Chen, a Chinatown cop. He's a good cop, as the first few scenes establish, and he's very familiar with Chinatown. That's probably why the powers-that-be decide to team him up with a rookie named Danny Wallace (Mark Wahlberg). Nick and Danny begin by stepping on each other's toes, but finally end up liking each other once they both get a chance to save the other one's life.

What happens after that is kind of a mystery to me. I'm fairly certain that the villains are all part of the Fukienese Dragons, led by a young Chinese psycho named Bobby Vu (Byron Mann). I'm also pretty sure that Nick is on the payroll of Henry Lee (Ric Young), a gangster dealing in prostitutes and other neat stuff. I'm not quite sure why Henry Lee decides to employ Danny, although this makes for some ridiculous (albeit unpredictable) plot twists along the way. There's also an interesting subplot revolving around Danny's father (Brian Cox), but it doesn't have much to do with the main story.

One of the problems, as I said, is that the movie doesn't make any sense. I don't blame this entirely on Foley, because he's obviously a good director. I'm more inclined to point my finger at Robert Pucci's script, which doesn't seem to be in tune to the way normal people act. One scene early on had me particularly annoyed: Nick confronts his boss because he's angry about his new white partner. He's shouting and pointing his finger and stepping on the furniture, and I was thinking that I would have fired him if he had done that to me. (In addition, the film takes a bite into race-related issues, and never develops them at all.)

There are a lot of scenes like this one, and none of them are very coherent. There's also a considerable language barrier, given that Chow and some of the other actors have thick Chinese accents. The plot itself never straightens out. I'm not sure who or what the Fukienese Dragons are, or why Henry Lee is associated with them, or what they do as a group. The Corruptor is an action movie, and so all these weird plot developments are decorated with loud and violent action sequences. The sequences aren't bad, but they're not new; how many car chases through Chinatown have you seen? On that note, how many Chinatown cop movies have you seen? One too many, I'd imagine.

Foley's strength is clearly in characterization, and he does a pretty good job here. The scenes between Nick and Danny are very good, and I actually got a feel for their characters; a bond forms between them that holds parts of the film together. Chow and Wahlberg are both good actors; Chow is a pro, and can do this kind of stuff in his sleep. Wahlberg seems less at home in this atmosphere, but he's still fun to watch. I also liked the subplot involving Danny's father; Brian Cox's performance is powerful, and his character makes a compelling moral compass for Danny.

But the film ultimately fails, mostly at the hands of insane incoherence and overly-familiar action scenes. A complicated plot can be successful, but the story needs to make sense when it's over. The Corruptor never manages to make any sense -- it just keeps spinning out of control until, finally, there's nothing left to hold on to.

Psychosis Rating:  4/10

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           Nathaniel R. Atcheson

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