The Corruptor
Nick Chen (Chow Yun-Fat) was the first Chinese-born immigrant in the NYPD, and is now one of the force's most decorated officers. As such, he's been named leader of the city's Asian Gang Unit, who are the primary peacekeepers in Chinatown. Trouble has just arrived for the Triads, the long-entrenched Chinese gangsters who are the real power behind Chinatown. After years of posing as honest businessmen, the Triad's powers are threatened by the newly arrived Fukienese Dragons. With a gang war on the horizon, the city sends a new recruit, Danny Wallace (Mark Wahlberg), to join Chen's unit. Danny finds Chen and the AGU in a very comfortable (perhaps too comfortable) relationship with the Triads. When the mobsters attempt to corrupt Danny, Chen must reassess his relationship with the Triads, and Danny must also learn that certain concessions must be made to ensure the peace in this world set apart from the rest of New York. more..
Director: James Foley
Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Mark Wahlberg, Ric Young, Paul Ben-Victor, Jon Kit Lee
The Corruptor' quickly turns into a good bad-cop drama of fascinating moral complexity.
Beneath The Corruptor's explosive body count is a rock-solid, visually slick crime thriller set in the squalid netherworld of Manhattan's Chinatown.
At this point, "The Corruptor" looks as if it's going to be just a rehash of an early Dirty Harry movie, but it surprises by taking us inside Chinatown, where we discover just how sinister and elaborate the relationships between the police and the businessmen can be.
It aspires to greater moral ambiguity than the average crime thriller, and if it doesn't entirely succeed it nevertheless avoids the lazy moral bankruptcy of movies like "Lethal Weapon 4."
What you get in this cop drama is NYPD Blue lite. That's not bad. In fact, it's compulsively watchable. But there are no leaps, just fits and starts.
Soundtrack of the Year
Teen Choice Awards (1999)
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