Themes: Police Corruption, Rogue Cops, Street Gangs
Main Cast: Cuba Gooding, Jr., Clifton Collins, Jr., Cole Hauser, Wyclef Jean, Keith David
Release Year: 2006
Country: US
Run Time: 97 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Cuba Gooding Jr. and Clifton Collins Jr. portray a pair of former gang members who trade in their colors for badges, only to discover that life on the other side of the law isn't much different than life on the streets, in Nightstalker director Chris Fisher's tale of crime and corruption in the highest ranks of the inner-city police force. As anti-gang task force cops Armando Sancho (Collins Jr.) and his partner Salim Adel (Gooding Jr.) make their way through the sweltering concrete jungle of a decaying city, the lines between the law and the lawless grow increasingly blurred. His conscience stirred by his involvement in the murder of an innocent man, Sancho begins weighing the prospect of participating in an Internal Affairs investigation against his loyalty to his amoral partner and best friend Adel. When Sancho and Adel are called in by their division lieutenant (Cole Hauser) and assigned the task of delivering confiscated dope to the henchmen of feared gangster Damien Baine (Wyclef Jean), the deal is sweetened by Baine's offer to cut the pair in on the profits if they agree to bust a gang of newly arrived Canadian drug dealers looking to establish roots in the city. The task is complicated however, by the revelation that not only does the Canadian gang have direct ties to a well-established crime syndicate headed by ruthless Latino crime lord Roland (Robert La Sardo), but that the disgruntled girlfriend of a noted police informant is looking to exact deadly revenge on Adel for a previous wrongdoing as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Wood Harris - Brax; Robert La Sardo - Roland; Lobo Sebastian - Manny; Taboo - Ramirez; Khleo Thomas - Splooge; Aimee Garcia - Rita; Judy Reyes - Internal Affairs Agent; Chris Mulkey - Internal Affairs Agent; Tory Kittles; Chris Fisher
Credit
Chris Davis - Art Director, Shannon Makhanian - Casting, Tierre Turner - Co-producer, Johnny Wujek - Costume Designer, David Allen Cluck - First Assistant Director, Chris Fisher - Director, Miklos Wright - Editor, Tom Sanders - Editor, Ash R. Shah - Executive Producer, Sundip R. Shah - Executive Producer, Barry Brooker - Executive Producer, Richard Middleton - Line Producer, Peter Lopez - Composer (Music Score), Ryan Beveridge - Composer (Music Score), Gerry Cueller - Musical Direction/Supervision, Greg Danylyshyn - Musical Direction/Supervision, Robert Hall - Makeup Special Effects, Tony Stabley - Production Designer, Eliot Rockett - Cinematographer, Danny Minnick - Cinematographer, Ash R. Shah - Producer, Timothy Wayne Peternel - Producer, David Hillary - Producer, James Dehr - Sound/Sound Designer, Chris Bailey - Special Effects Supervisor, Chris Craig - Technical Advisor, Eric Saks - Screenwriter, Chris Fisher - Screenwriter, Gil Reavill - Screenwriter, John Marquis - Supervising Sound Editor, Digital Domain - Visual Effects
Two LAPD cops (played by Gooding and Collins), who were once gangsters, attempt to cover up a police scandal, involving both of them. In the movie, there are references to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which in fact is played by some guys in one scene. The film is also believed to be partly influenced by the 1990s Rampart scandal.
