Brown's Requiem

1998 "In L.A., The Law Is Still For Sale."
5.7| 1h44m| R| en
Details

Fritz Brown is an ex-LAPD, recovering alcoholic who now splits his time repossessing cars for a used car lot and staffing his one-man private detective agency. When a filthy caddie named Freddy "Fat Dog" Baker wanders into Fritz's office one day, flashing a wad of cash, Fritz is hired to follow Fat Dog's kid sister Jane, who is holed up with a Beverly Hills sugar daddy named Sol Kupferman. Kupferman is a 70 year-old bag man for the mob, and Fat Dog claims that "Solly K" is up to something evil that may harm Jane. The trail leads Fritz to an encounter with his dark past in the person of Haywood Cathcart, current head of LAPD internal affairs and the person who kicked Fritz off the police force.

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Clips

Reviews

Lightdeossk Captivating movie !
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Raegan Butcher It is definitely Michael Rooker who carries this film with his likable working-man persona.He really manages to show the heart and humanity under his character's rough exterior and when he needs to be menacing he delivers the goods;the scene where he takes a pair of brass knuckles to a creep in order to beat some information out of him is worth the price of admission alone. He is well-served by a snappy script that captures the gritty funk of Ellroy's writing. Capable direction by Jason Freeland keeps things moving nicely. There are excellent character turns by Will Sasso, Brad Dourif,and Barry Newman. And Harold Gould takes a bow as a slimy mobster.I am surprised this isn't more celebrated. Good show, all around.
Lonnie Turner ...Brown's Requiem tells the story of Fritz Brown, a private investigator and part time repo man who was at one time an officer in the LAPD -- and is currently an on-the-wagon alcoholic. Fritz is hired by an obese golf caddy who calls himself Fat Dog (MadTV's Will Sasso) to watch over his sister (Selma Blair) who is currently shacked up with a wealthy older man. Fritz soon finds himself involved in a complicated plot involving Fat Dog's murder, a former football player turned racketeer and the Internal Affairs chief who had Fritz thrown off the force (the late, great character actor Brion James).I've not read Ellroy's novel (it's one of the few Ellroy novels I haven't read) but I understand it was his first. If this film is a faithful adaptation, then it serves as the filmic representation of the birth of Ellroy's signature devices: flawed "heroes," gruesome violence, perversions, sadism and a filthy Los Angeles underbelly, all of which are on display here. Star/producer Michael Rooker does a fantastic job conveying a character who strives for redemption and allows the possibility of it to pull him into a world of murder and depravity he was not ready for. The direction is tight, the mystery is intriguing and the film is littered with memorable bit roles by such character actors as the aforementioned Brion James, Brad Dourif, Lee Weaver and Tobin Bell.Fans of film noir should give this one a go, as should fans of star Michael Rooker and author James Ellroy. It's not perfect but it surely deserved better than the direct-to-video release it received here in the U.S. A solid 7/10.
inframan Beats me how people can describe this adolescent exercise as film noir. True there's a gun & a bottle & a dame & the lead is a private eye, but that ain't what makes the genre, folks. This thing plays like reheated TV cop show stuff - lots of bloody beating & lousy continuity - with a dash of Chinatown memories thrown in. Pretty hard to watch beyond the first 10 minutes. You want contemporary feel, watch anything by John Dahl.
jessewillis Warning: SPOILERS! I'm suprised no one else seems to have noticed the Chinatown homage this movie does. Kudos to Michael Rooker I'd like to see him in more lead roles. I also liked the irony of Fatdog being both a big fan of Hitler and unknowingly being the son of a Jew. This is just what you want from a small film. A modest production yielding good, but modest, results.

Similar Movies to Brown's Requiem