The Corruptor (1999) New Line/Action-Drama RT: 110 minutes Rated R (language, strong violence, nudity, sexual content) Director: James Foley Screenplay: Robert Pucci Music: Carter Burwell Cinematography: Juan Ruiz Anchia Release date: March 12, 1999 (US) Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Mark Wahlberg, Ric Young, Paul Ben-Victor, Brian Cox, Byron Mann, Jon Kit Lee, Andrew Pang, Elizabeth Lindsey, Kim Chan, Bill MacDonald, Susie Trinh, Ho Chow, Olivia Yap, Lynda Chiu. Box Office: $15.1M (US)/$24.4M (World)
Rating: ***
Faint echoes of Sidney Lumet (Serpico, Prince of the City) can be heard throughout The Corruptor, a gritty actioner that depicts police corruption in the NYPD. It stars Chow Yun-Fat (The Replacement Killers) as Nick Chen, the head of the Asian Gang Unit and Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights) as his new partner Danny Wallace, a rookie just transferred to the unit. There’s a gang war breaking out in Chinatown between the Tongs and the Fukienese Dragons. The Tongs are old school Chinese mobsters led by Uncle Benny (Chan, Lethal Weapon 4). The Fukienese Dragons, led by Bobby Vu (Mann, Catwoman), are a violent gang of young Asian punks looking to take over the criminal underworld from the Tongs. It’s Nick’s job to keep things under control in this insular part of the Big Apple. His job has become more difficult now that he’s been saddled with a young American partner, somebody who the residents of Chinatown will automatically regard with distrust.
It turns out Nick isn’t all that clean. He secretly works for a slimy gangster named Henry Lee (Young, The Transporter) providing tips about police investigations into criminal activity in Chinatown. There’s plenty of that going on- illegal gambling, protection rackets, drugs, the smuggling of illegal Chinese immigrants and forced prostitution. This would account for the unidentified corpses of young undocumented girls being found in dumpsters around Chinatown. Eventually, Wallace also falls under the influence of Henry Lee, accepting money in exchange for overlooking certain things. Danny needs the money to help his father, disgraced ex-cop Sean (Cox, Manhunter), pay off a huge gambling debt. They don’t have the warmest relationship, needless to say.
Directed by James Foley (At Close Range), The Corruptor opens with a bang as a corner store explodes. When the owner stumbles out of the wreckage, an Asian youth gang walks over and executes him. Ordinarily, this would indicate you’re about to see yet another mindless actioner, but that’s not the case with The Corruptor. While there are a few good action scenes, the point of the movie is the moral ambiguities of the main characters. Nick is a decorated cop, one who has been successful at keeping things relatively quiet in Chinatown. However, this comes at a price. His loyalties are split between the department and the Triad. He’s a cop and he’s Chinese; he has one foot in each world. He goes back and forth between them without hesitation. He’ll easily accept the services of a Chinese prostitute then go out and arrest gang members. Danny is young, ambitious and naïve. His presence in the AGU is a mystery to the other detectives who assume he has a case of “yellow fever”. There’s a reason Danny was transferred to that particular unit, one that subjects his true loyalties to question. As Nick shows him the ropes, they develop a solid partnership that becomes friendship. It comes as a complete surprise when they both learn that they’ve been secretly working for Henry Lee who has his own personal agenda.
Police corruption, divided loyalties, moral ambiguities, dysfunctional family relationships… yep, that’s Lumet territory alright. Besides being a good complex character drama, The Corruptor is also a slamming action movie with violent shootouts and one wild car chase through the congested streets of Chinatown. This should please those among you who judge a movie by its action and violence content.
Fat seems more confident in his second American movie. He has a better grasp of the English language this time which enables him to add life to his dialogue. He even manages to get off a couple of good one-liners here. Wahlberg has come a long way since his days as one-hit wonder rapper Marky Mark when he sang “Good Vibrations” with the Funky Bunch. I started paying close attention to him as an actor after seeing him as porn actor Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights. He does a decent job as the young cop whose loyalties are tested by working with Nick. He wisely opts to play Danny as a mild sort who learns to be a bad ass rather than going straight for bad ass. Cox is great as Danny’s father, an alcoholic gambler still angry at being thrown off the force. He resents his son yet still shows up at his apartment asking for money. Kim Chan, who played another Triad leader named Uncle Benny in Lethal Weapon 4, is perfect for his role.
The Corruptor depicts Chinatown as a place to which no American has access. It’s a place marked by underground gambling dens, sleazy massage parlors and small squalid apartments that house about 25 illegals per room. Foley gives the movie a palpable sense of authenticity; you can almost smell the trash-strewn alleys and filthy apartments. It reminds me a lot of the underappreciated Year of the Dragon, the only other good movie directed by Michael Cimino.
The only aspect of The Corruptor that seems superfluous is the subplot involving the concurrent FBI investigation in Chinatown led by Special Agent Schabacker (Victor, True Romance). Apparently, the Feds have an inside guy in the Dragons, but they’re not willing to share any information with the NYPD. Nothing of any real significance happens as a result of this development; it doesn’t seem necessary to include it in the first place. Aside from that minor hiccup, The Corruptor is a solid police drama. Sure, it’s faux Lumet, but it still works.
