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Rampart

Play trailer Poster for Rampart R 2012 1h 43m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
74% Tomatometer 145 Reviews 35% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
In 1999, Officer Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson), a 24-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, tends to follow his own code of rough justice. A number of years earlier, he was implicated in the death of a serial rapist. Brown's violent tendencies once again land him in hot water when a video of him beating up a suspect plays all over local TV. An assistant DA (Sigourney Weaver) pressures him to retire, but Brown edges closer and closer to a meltdown.
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Rampart

Rampart

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Critics Consensus

Rampart sends viewers plummeting into a nihilistic hell of its protagonist's creation, yet Woody Harrelson's performance in the central role is too magnetic to dismiss.

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Critics Reviews

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Tom Long Detroit News 03/09/2012
C
Where's it all go? Nowhere, really, just down a dirty, disappointing hole. Harrelson deserved better. Go to Full Review Moira MacDonald Seattle Times 03/01/2012
3.5/4
It's a remarkably compelling film. Go to Full Review Bill Goodykoontz Arizona Republic 03/01/2012
4/5
Brown is a sick man, but Harrelson makes him so interesting, so charismatic, so ... watchable, that you can't look away, even if his actions make you want to (and they will). Go to Full Review D.M. Palmer Vague Visages 11/09/2023
What really distinguishes Rampart from the standard police corruption film, and prevents it from sliding into outright misanthropy, is its focus on the emotional stakes. Go to Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 06/27/2023
3/4
Rampart is more of a character study than any sort of crime procedural, and it’s all the better for it. Go to Full Review Allen Almachar The MacGuffin 08/04/2020
C+
Officer Brown is such a terrible person that he becomes almost a caricature ... by the end of the movie, nothing about him left any kind of resonance. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Greg C @RT41612251 Jun 1 The character development is superb, the interactions of Dave with everyone around him feels like a grenade being passed around, and someone pulled dave's pin a lonnnggg time ago. The non ending was admirable, everything was destroyed in dave's life, a wrapped up ending was unnecessary. See more Gareth v @geewah 08/09/2025 A gritty, unsettling character study that thrives on Harrelson’s presence but wanders in its storytelling. See more Stephen C @bob25009 07/20/2025 Success in 1 hours and 43 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated R for Sexual Content, Pervasive Language and Some Violence!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $969,200.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Tom S @RT47100268 02/14/2025 A very different style of directing & camerawork. This has thrown people off since they are so used to the standard Hollywood style. Very unnerving & brilliantly played. Not something that can be fully absorbed with just one viewing. The ending to it is that there is no ending with this sort of person, just a gradual horrifying decline. See more Jim B @RT77206936 02/02/2025 Great acting, fantastic sets, no plot at all, movie is about 40 minutes too long. See more Martin B @RT44235356 10/28/2024 I can see why critics would love it. It’s uniquely complex on every level from family to his cop related entanglements with no phony good guy, uplifting theme or redemption to be had. But my God it’s long, a series of unpleasant interactions punctuated with violence with nothing to show for it at the end except perhaps reality I suppose or at least the critics thought that. For movie watchers it’s more a test of will to see if you can get through a marathon of dysfunction and people constantly on defense with not an aspiration to be found anywhere. Particularly annoying is the fixation on smoking. Another reality I suppose but so distractingly annoying via repetition. See more Read all reviews
Rampart

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Oren Moverman

Director

Woody Harrelson

Dave Brown

Ben Foster

General Terry

Anne Heche

Catherine

Ice Cube

Kyle Timkins

Brie Larson

Helen

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Rampart

Rampart (2011) Woody Harrelson as Dave Brown in "Rampart." View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In 1999, Officer Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson), a 24-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, tends to follow his own code of rough justice. A number of years earlier, he was implicated in the death of a serial rapist. Brown's violent tendencies once again land him in hot water when a video of him beating up a suspect plays all over local TV. An assistant DA (Sigourney Weaver) pressures him to retire, but Brown edges closer and closer to a meltdown.
Director
Oren Moverman
Producer
Ben Foster, Lawrence Inglee, Ken Kao, Clark Peterson
Screenwriter
Oren Moverman, James Ellroy
Distributor
Millennium Films
Production Co
Waypoint Entertainment, Lightstream Entertainment, Amalgam Features, Third Mind Pictures
Rating
R (Sexual Content|Pervasive Language|Some Violence)
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 10, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 8, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$969.2K
Runtime
1h 43m
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