The Corruptor
USA 1999
Reviewed by Jamie Graham
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
Chinatown, New York, the present. A turf war has erupted between the Fukienese Dragons, led by Bobby Vu, and the Tongs, a Triad family fronted by Benny Wong and Henry Lee. Keeping the peace is the Asian Gang Unit led by Nick Chen, a detective with close ties to the Tongs. Chen's mistrust of new squad arrival Danny Wallace is cemented when Wallace busts some drug pedlars only to discover that one of them is an undercover FBI agent. Benny Wong and Henry Lee decide they want to work with Wallace as well as Chen. Lee gains Wallace's favour by leading him to a lair of illegal immigrants. Chen asks Lee to leave Wallace alone, telling him about the FBI informer as a trade. The FBI blame Chen for their agent's subsequent death. Taped evidence incriminating Benny Wong is rendered worthless by Wong's execution, a hit orchestrated by Henry Lee and Bobby Vu, covertly in league.
Chen visits one of Bobby Vu's minions, Jack, and forces him to set up Vu. Jack tapes a meeting between Lee and Vu. Lee discovers Wallace is actually working for Internal Affairs on a case against Chen. He warns Chen and tells him of a shipment of illegal immigrants due that night, demanding that Chen should greet it and kill both Vu and Wallace. A shoot-out then ensues with the Fukienese Dragons. Vu and his gang are killed but not before Chen is fatally wounded. Wallace files a clean report about Chen's conduct before arresting Henry Lee, helped by Jack's tape.
Review
Perhaps having learnt from last year's The Replacement Killers that working for a John Woo-imitator is no substitute for the real thing, Chow Yun-Fat has this time attached his talents to a proven American director, working within a proven US format: the buddy-cop movie. That said, The Corruptor opens with a high-tempo gun battle that calls for Chow to adopt his trademark pose - gliding through the air with a gun in each fist. Add the exhilaratingly photographed Chinatown backdrop, echoing Chris Doyle's work for Wong Kar-Wai, and it would seem that director James Foley (Glengarry Glen Ross, Fear) is diligently Xeroxing the Hong Kong action flick.
When Danny Wallace arrives, however, the focus begins to shift. Assigned to Chen's Asian Gang Unit as much to lend ethnic diversity as to bolster their attempts to end a Triad turf war, his appearance causes Chen to complain, "He's not just white, he's green." Here, we're introduced to two cop-movie clichés - the pairing of the world-weary detective with the naive partner, and a clash of races examined, however glibly, within the microcosm of the squad car.
Content to work from such standard foundations, Robert Pucci's script adheres steadfastly to formula. Wallace wins Chen's respect and friendship, racial hurdles are neatly vaulted and the by-the-book rookie soon learns that sometimes the job can only be done by getting your hands dirty. Yet, despite a lack of originality, further emphasised by the routine car chases that punctuate the action, The Corruptor is efficient enough to invite viewer leniency. James Foley's eagerness to draw attention to the Emperor's new clothes cloaking his genre film also begs forgiveness. The exotic eastern score often gives way to rap and snippets of US-made source music, and the frequent bird's-eye shots of New York are forever placing Chinatown within its wider context.
Indeed, with his plot revolving around illegal immigration, dog-eat-dog greed and territorial battles, Foley even seems to be using Chinatown to study the dark side of the American Dream. It is not by accident that a fleeting shot of the Statue of Liberty appears in the final minutes and, when Chen remarks on Triad leader Henry Lee's avarice, he replies, "What do you expect? I'm American."
Credits
- Producer
- Dan Halsted
- Screenplay
- Robert Pucci
- Director of Photography
- Juan Ruiz-Anchia
- Editor
- Howard E. Smith
- Production Designer
- David Brisbin
- Music
- Carter Burwell
- ©New Line Productions, Inc
- Production Companies
- New Line Cinema presents an Illusion Entertainment Group production
- Executive Producers
- Oliver Stone
- Terence Chang
- Bill Carraro
- Jay Stern
- Co-executive Producers
- Jonathan Krauss
- Brian Witten
- Executive in Charge of Production
- Carla Fry
- Production Executive
- Erik Holmberg
- Production Controller
- Paul Prokop
- Production Resources
- Joshua Ravetch
- Production Co-ordinators
- Lori Greenberg
- New York Unit:
- Deirdre M. Cook
- In-house:
- Emily Glatter
- Unit Production Managers
- Mathew Hart
- Bill Carraro
- Location Managers
- Fred Kamping
- New York Crew:
- Kenneth L. Halsband
- 2nd Unit Toronto:
- Michael Blecher
- 2nd Unit New York:
- Thomas Ross
- Post-production
- Supervisor:
- Rick Reynolds
- Executive in Charge of:
- Jody Levin
- Location Consultant
- New Yerk Crew:
- Gine Lui
- 2nd Unit Director
- Philip Neilson
- Assistant Directors
- Jeff Authors
- Eric S. Potechin
- Christopher J. Surgent
- Eric Banz
- Darrin Brown
- New York:
- Gregory G. Hale
- Michael Pitt
- 2nd Unit Toronto:
- Michael Burke
- Joanne Tickle
- 2nd Unit New York:
- Michael J. DeCasper
- Kristin Cameron Bernstein
- Terry Ham
- Script Supervisors
- Samantha Armstrong
- 2nd Unit Toronto:
- Nancy Markle
- 2nd Unit New York:
- Catherine Gore
- Casting
- Mary Vernieu
- Anne McCarthy
- Toronto:
- Clare Walker
- Hong Kong:
- Pat Pow
- Associates:
- Carrie Campbell
- Donna Dupere
- Voice:
- Leigh French
- 2nd Unit Director of Pohotography
- Craig Haagensen
- Camera Operators
- Gilles Corbeil
- John Hobson
- Angel Gonzalez
- New York Crew:
- Bruce MacCallum
- Alec Hirschfeld
- 2nd Unit Toronto:
- Joachim Martin
- Perry Hoffmann
- 2nd Unit New York:
- Wayne Paull
- Phil Abraham
- Steadicam Operator
- Gilles Corbeil
- Spacecam Technician
- New York Crew:
- Ron Goodman
- Digital Effects
- Richard Malzahn
- Special Effects
- Co-ordinator:
- Martin Malivoire
- Malivoire Pictures Inc
- Supervisor:
- Kaz Kobielski
- New York, Co-ordinator:
- Steve Kirshoff
- Set Key:
- Jason Board
- On-set:
- Daniel S. Gibson
- News Footage Graphics
- Moving Pictures
- Art Directors
- Paul Denham Austerberry
- New York Crew:
- Scott P. Murphy
- Set Designers
- Thomas Carnegie
- New York Crew:
- Tom Warren
- Set Decorators
- Jaro Dick
- New York Crew:
- George Detitta Jr
- Key Scenic Artists
- Cameron S. Brooke
- Storyboard Artists
- Samuel Agro
- Ron Hobbs
- Costume Designer
- Doug Hall
- Wardrobe Supervisors
- Jay Duboisson
- New York Crew:
- Anne Gorman
- 2nd Unit Toronto:
- Richard Krogh
- 2nd Unit New York:
- Suzanne Pettit
- Make-up
- Key Artist:
- Donald J. Mowat
- 2nd Unit Toronto, Key Artist:
- Marlene Schneider
- Special Effects Make-up
- John Caglione Jr
- François Dagenais
- Paul Jones
- Prosthetic Technician
- Michael Marino
- Key Hairstylists
- Jennifer O'Halloran
- 2nd Unit Toronto:
- Diana Ladyshewsky
- Main/End Titles Design
- Nina Saxon/New Wave Entertainment
- Titles/Opticals
- Pacific Title/Mirage
- Featured Musicians
- Erhu:
- Wang Guo-Wei
- Flute:
- Chen Tao
- Guitar:
- David Torn
- Clarinet:
- John Moses
- Cello:
- Eric Friedlander
- Bass:
- Jon Deak
- Percussion:
- Geoffrey Gordon
- Gordon Gottlieb
- Programmer/Conductor
- Carter Burwell
- Music Supervisor
- Dana Sano
- Executive in Charge of Music
- Toby Emmerich
- Music Executive
- Lori Silfen
- Music Co-ordinator
- Bob Bowen
- Supervising Music Editor
- Adam Smalley
- Music Editor
- Brian Richards
- Music Scoring Engineer
- Michael Farrow
- Soundtrack
- "Candy Perfume Girl" by Madonna, William Wainwright, Susannah Melvoin, performed by Madonna; "I Want You" by Stephan Jenkins, performed by Third Eye Blind; "The Best Is Yet to Come" by Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh, performed by Frank Sinatra, Count Basie & his Orchestra; "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers, performed by Rahsaan Roland Kirk; "Touch It" by Tim Stahl, John Guldberg, Jack Knight, ScrewFace, performed by Monifah, contains a sample of "White Horse"; "Losing a Whole Year (Remix - Strings Up)", "The Background" by Stephan Jenkins, Kevin Cadogan, Arion Salazar, performed by Third Eye Blind; "Patriots" by Germaine Williams, M. Wright, Jerry Duplessis, performed by Canibus; "My One and Only Love" by Guy Wood, Robert Mellin, performed by John Coltrane, Johnny Hartman; "Song for a Jolly Gathering" by Bobby Chen, Huang Lian Wang, performed by Bobby Chen; "I Hurt You Accidentally" by Johnny Chen, performed by Alex To; "Tian Mi Mi" by He Wang; "Eileen's Theme" by Jack Robinson, performed by Don Tiare & his Orchestra; "Back It Up (re-mix)" by T. Bashir, R. Maggin, C. Fisher, performed by Styles of Beyond; "Let Me Fly" by Earl Simmons, Damon Blackman, Manuel Alejandro, Ana Magdalena, performed by DMX, contains a sample of "Lo Dudo" performed by Jose Jose; "5 Boroughs" by K. Parker, K. Murray, J. Simmons, C. Giles, R. Noble, K. Blake, A. Johnson, W. Reed, J. Graham, W. Broady, R. Corwin, performed by KRS-One, Cam'Ron, Killah Priest, Run, Buckshot, Prodigy, Keith Murray, Vigilante; "The Corruptor's Execution" by C. Butler, B. Freeman, E. Stevens, B. Jones, performed by Pimp C, Run B, E-40, B-Legit, contains a sample of "Another Execution" by George Clinton, Isaac Hayes, G. Hutchins; "Slap Somebody" by Erick Sermon, Keith Murray, performed by Keith Murray; "...Baby One More Time" by Max Martin, performed by Britney Spears; "Break It Down" by M. Gus Tafson, Larry Loftin, performed by Marc Dorsey
- Sound Mixers
- Douglas Ganton
- New York Crew:
- Bill Daly
- 2nd Unit Toronto:
- Karl Scherer
- 2nd Unit New York:
- Brian Miksis
- Re-recording Mixers
- Pat Cyccone
- Michael Keller
- Mixing Recordist
- Eric Flickinger
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Michael Wilhoit
- Co-supervising Sound Editor
- Scott Wolf
- Sound Editors
- Dutch Hill
- Mark Hunshiki Choi
- Perry D. Robertson
- Scott Sanders
- Dialogue Editors
- Laura R. Harris
- Frederick H. Stahly
- ADR
- Recordist:
- Dana Porter
- Mixer:
- Ron Bedrosian
- Editor:
- Kelly L. Oxford
- Foley
- Artists:
- James Moriana
- Jeffrey Wilhoit
- Recordist:
- Julie C. Lucas
- Mixer:
- David Alstadter
- Chinatown Consultant
- Mo Chow
- Stunt Co-ordinator
- Philip Neilson
- Gun Supervisor
- John 'Frenchie' Berger
- Gun Handlers
- Peter Phillips
- Nick Veziris
- Armourer
- New York Crew:
- Centre Firearms
- Animal Handler
- Rick Parker
- Helicopter Pilot
- New York Crew:
- Al Cerullo
- Cast
- Chow Yun-Fat
- Nick Chen
- Mark Wahlberg
- Danny Wallace
- Ric Young
- Henry Lee
- Paul Ben-Victor
- Schabacker
- Andrew Pang
- Willy Ung
- Byron Mann
- Bobby Vu
- Elizabeth Lindsey
- Louise Deng
- Brian Cox
- Sean Wallace
- Kim Chan
- 'Uncle' Benny Wong
- Jon Kit Lee
- Jack
- Tovah Feldshuh
- U.S. Attorney Margaret Wheeler
- Marie Matiko
- May
- Bill MacDonald
- Vince Kirkpatrick
- Susie Trinh
- Amy San
- Ho Chow
- Black Eyes
- Olivia Yap
- Tai
- Lynda Chiu
- Kim
- Pak-Kong Ho
- Phan Ho
- Tim Progosh
- Lackey
- Beau Starr
- Captain Stan Klein
- LeRoy Allen
- guard 1
- Simon B. Cotter
- lawyer
- Frank Pellegrino
- large agent
- Tig Fong
- sumo guard
- Chuck Scarborough
- himself, TV reporter
- Karen Huie
- woman in brothel
- Mike Jung
- doctor
- Howard Hoover
- smaller agent
- Lucille Soong
- elderly immigrant
- Mark Williams
- co. captain
- Alice Poon
- masseuse
- Jason Ting
- young boy
- Arthur Lo
- man on street
- Alice Lee Chun
- frightened woman
- Certificate
- 18
- Distributor
- Entertainment Film Distributors Ltd
- 9,898 feet
- 109 minutes 59 seconds
- Colour by
- DeLuxe/Technicolor
- Prints by
- DeLuxe
- Super 35 [1:2.35]