DIRTY COP 2: I AM A PIG

Directed by Tim Ritter, Bill Cassinelli, and Joel D. Wynkoop.

Joel Wynkoop - Gus Kimble
Simon - Donald Farmer

Thinking back to my review for the first DIRTY COP movie, I think I wrote that I didn't much care for it. Upon repeated viewing the film has grown on me tremendously. There were flaws in structure that could easily be forgiven. It was the outrageousness of the acts presented that more than made up for the film's shortcomings. My only criticism now is that some of the segments don't go to the extremes like they should. But then again, main character Gus Kimble is a sociopath, not a psychopath.

When word came down that director Tim Ritter and Joel Wynkoop were re-teaming for a follow-up, I was overjoyed. The thought that DIRTY COP 2 would pick up where DC left off and push the extremes of underground film truly excited me. The result has left me wanting part 3.

DC2 falls into the same dilemma that plagues BACK TO THE FUTURE II, it's only purpose is to set up the final chapter. For me, that doesn't make a good movie. The problem is I know there is much more to the story than what was shown here. An entire subplot was excised due to government intervention. The subplot would have given the film a stronger story and resolution. It could have stood on its own two feet.

This film picks up where the first movie ended, and moves quickly into the mental rehabilitation of delusional Cop wanna-be Gus Kimble. Clips from Gus' stay in the sanitarium provide some of the most interesting moments of the film. Most of the scenes are just exposition into what causes Gus to put on the badge and act as a vigilante. While they might seem fairly frivolous, they provide Wynkoop with some of his best scenery chewing. The man truly loves his character.

If you have seen the first film, you already know the premise to this one. A nut-case cop goes out for a night on the town while his equally nutty brother videotapes the evening's proceedings.

With Gus in a padded cell for all these years, his brother needs to find a new subject. Running around is a fun guy named Simon, who is possibly even more demented than Gus. At least Gus never killed anyone.

The middle segment of DC2 is a drawn out interrogation/torture sequence of a young woman. The grueling scenes border on fetish filmmaking. Simon kidnaps the daughter of the local mayor and tries to pump her for information. Simon thinks the mayor is responsible for his dismissal from his imaginary job. The scene just runs on and on, becoming more disturbing as it goes. It's like an avalanche; it becomes more deadly as it rolls on. Like many of the scenes involving violence in the first film, you wonder just how far this one will go. In this regard, DC2 is better than the original, it doesn't hold back.

While Simon is torturing young girls, Gus is hitting the streets and getting back to his old shenanigans. After all, five years in lockup makes a man long for the fun things in life. He's found a new cameraman, who just happens to have the inside scoop on Gus' brother. It seems while Gus was bouncing off the walls at Bellevue; his brother was profiting off sales of the video detailing the night Gus was put away. Our hero doesn't take kindly to that and spends the rest of the picture looking for his dear, baby brother.

You see where this is going, right? A showdown between two Dirty Cops! Usually, I feel guilty if I let it spill how a film ends, so I won't give it away completely. All I'll say is that you don't get what you expect. In fact, you don't get much at all. As I said in the beginning, DC2 is a set up for DC3. To see who lives and dies, we have to wait for the next installment. This is unfair, but it's not Tim's fault. On this film he was at the mercy of our federal government!

DAMN BILL CLINTON, DAMN HIS PUNK ASS TO HELL!!!

Not only did his lying ass spit into the eyes of each and every American, but his cronies are suppressing great filmmaking! This could have been prime underground filmmaking aimed at subverting not only our media culture, but our political system as well. Instead we are left with what amounts to an aborted fetus of a movie; one that's so close to being fully formed. It's a movie that could have grown into something great. All it needed was a solid ending. With any luck I'll see if I can get Tim to go over the hurdles this film had to leap over in order to see the light of distribution.

There is plenty to like in DC2, but I still can't wait for the ending I hope we'll see in part 3.

DIRTY COP 2: I AM A PIG is available from Sub Rosa Studios.