User reviews

I'm unsure as to what I really think of this film. I enjoyed watching it, though it was in reality nothing special. It started rather slowly, and for the longest time you are not sure what the story is about. Are we watching Tom's character, Rem, falling in love, ruining his career, or is the film about the investigation and finding the baddy! Well neither story really worked out. The plot through out the film is complicated and about persons you don't see at all in the movie, though the ending (at least to me) was a surprise (one of this time when you think you've cracked it, but then there is one final twist!). And the love story was unbelievable and looked more like a middle aged man getting turned on by a teen. However, there was something about the film that still kept me interested, so like I say, I'm not completely clear as to how to judge it. I think what maybe kept the film both interesting and enjoyable was very good acting by Lori Heuring, playing the girl Nikki. 5/10

What could have been and should have been is not what is.

What is - is not what you expect and what you expect is not what is.

The last few minutes of this movie are just stupid.

Watch for the train scene...

If the cops were bad from the beginning, then it would all make sense...

...but I suspect it was rewritten several times and cut so much that the script was just stupid at the end.

• and on another note...why do the single/divorced /widowed police always have to fall in love with the stripper/prostitute/witness? It's a bullshi t way to write a script that was written in the eras of the 1940's and 50's and should be done with.

A tough cop is taken off a major drug case because of his 'cowboy' antics and finds himself assigned to a case where all he has is a severed hand floating in the water. Luckily for him the hand still had fingers so the prints lead us to a missing city hall employee.

Exploring the girl's past leads us into involvement with a Chinese drug gang which are hero has reason to detest. Next we are led to a pedophiliac elected official, blackmail, several dancers, some murders and dirty cops.

Berenger carries the film singlehandedly and it follows a predictable course until the end. The 10 minute conclusion takes us thru more twists than most mystery writers can concoct in several novels so most viewers should come away well satisfied.

TV thrillers. So many of them and they all somehow mesh together in your mind. It's sad to see Tom Berenger, a quality actor, not getting any good roles these days in movies, so this is basically what we can expect in the future. That said, True Blue gave me quite a shock; in the sense that I actually found it entertaining.

Tom stars as a broken down, physically aggressive, alcoholic detective with a past (do they come any other way?) who's investigating a crime that may uncover some police corruption. So who's really a True Blue?

This is actually a fairly well written yarn, fast paced and well acted. Tom is solid as the stereotypical detective and the rest do a good job as well. The plot is well constructed and offers a few unexpected twists in the end. It has that TV feel to it, but it does well what it sets out to do; entertain those less demanding. This is no Chinatown, but it's a solid mystery none the less.

Berenger is good, the rest of the cast are adequate. The story is very predictable and somewhat incoherent. A pretty explicit s/m scene is included to spice things up a bit, but it seems out of place. Not recommended viewing, but if you have nothing better to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon, then ...

A very well done movie with a great plot and story. Thrilling and good entertainment :) Tom Berenger is a great actor but have delivered a lot of bad movies lately but this one puts him back up there for sure. Deserves an 8 in my book.

A lot of the ingredients of an enjoyable jaded cop film are there but they just didn't work for us. The contrived and complex plot is so densely packed into a few lines of dialogue in several scenes and the switches, surprises and reverses are so numerous that for us the film became increasingly incoherent and finally ludicrous.

The movie has a very dark feel about it. In each progressive scene the director takes the viewer deeper and deeper into the abyss of inner city corruption. The dreary mood of the film serves as an excellent backdrop for the mature subject matter being presented. The main character played by Tom Berenger, does a great job of portraying a man who is on the brink of losing it all, and sets the stage for his apparent liability. Although some of the scenes are predictable, the film does a good job of keeping you guessing as to what's coming next. Overall I found this to be an enjoyable, and entertaining film, well worth the price of a rental for an evening.

This film was supposed to be a film noir, except that the character development of everyone except for Tom Berenger's character was flimsy. As a result, it's hard to buy the plot twists. The characters needed more development -- most noir characters are one-note, but those notes have to be played clearly. If the, say, gruff but sympathetic boss doesn't come across as sympathetic, you care less if he is killed. (Note: this is a random example, not from the film.) On a side note, the lighting (or cinematography) of this film was awful, making all of the actors look terrible. In particular, Lori Heuring, who has an asymmetrical face, was shot from an angle that made her appear in some light to have a harelip and in others to make her look like she was slightly sneering (the actress herself is extremely pretty in other films, so I think I'm right to blame the camera work). Anyway, that's a small quibble with an otherwise bad film.

"True Blue", just another Berenger B-flick, is a noir wannabe in which he plays a homicide detective with a past who's trying to get to the bottom of a murder mystery while trying to avoid the bottom of a blond tart involved with the case. This budget conscious flick fleshes out only half the characters in its convoluted and messy plot, relegating the other half to the backstory or endless conversation about the goings-on of a bunch of bad guys we don't get to see. "True Blue" is the kind of flick you might want to watch on late night tv when your choices are limited to vampires and old movies. (C)

What absolute horrible acting. This movie is a waste of time. 2000's Tom Beringer is lacking his old acting skills. The directing was atrocious. Find some pint that is drying and it will be a much better use of your time than this fertilized mushroom.

(2001) True Blue CRIME DRAMA/ MYSTERY

Executive produced, written and directed by J. S. Cardone that has Boston homicide detective Rembrandt Macy (Tom Berenger) along with his partner, Det. Beck (Pamela Gidley) assigned to an unusual murder case of a chopped hand discovered in a pond, belonging to a young female whose part of an escort service, with the help of the roommate of the deceased, Nikki (Lori Heuring) that can somehow connected to the mayor himself. Another traditional straight to rental murder thriller with twists viewers wouldn't necessarily care about, making the overall experience to be quite forgettable.

In True Blue Tom Berenger plays a dirty Harry like cop who is constantly getting disciplined and/or chewed out by the higher ups most notably by Barry Newman his immediate superior. After a drug sting doesn't yield what it's supposed to presumably because of Berenger he gets assigned a really tough homicide, all that's found is a severed hand in a pond in a city park.

It's determined to be female and the hand yields fingerprints in the system. A young woman who has a rap sheet for prostitution who also has roommate doing same and a third who is also missing who has left not so much as a fingernail.

It's all complicated maybe too complicated tale of city corruption, drug dealing, folks who have alternative sexual tastes. Some Asian drug gangs are involved.

Then there's a most mysterious roommate of the deceased played by Lori Heuring who Berenger starts feeling the heat for below decks. Only the gayest people in the world wouldn't.

The story may get a bit too complex, but there's enough action out there. Including a final confrontation right out of a Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry film. As for the final irony, think of the John Wayne film Rio Lobo and what that dirty gun does.

Anyone familiar with the works of writer/director J.S. Cardone will doubtless know that the man never seems to rest on his laurels for long, having filmed this cop thriller hot on the heels of his vampire yarn "The Forsaken".

Now herein lies the question, director Cardone is prolific yes, dabbling in a variety of genres, now aside from gigs like "Shadowzone" "The Slayer" and "Crash And Burn" written or directed by Cardone down through the last two decades, the vast majority of the man's work has mainly consisted of dark and brooding thrillers, whereby deep beneath the surface of the story, lurks many a festering heart.

Such is the case with "True Blue" starring Tom Berenger as Detective Rembrandt "Rem" Macy another one of those hard drinking,chain smoking cops on the edge. Now when i first looked at the cover for this movie, i thought to myself, where is Tom Berenger, Looking at the front of the cover you'll find a cosmetically reconstructed Tom looking kinda like Huckleberry Hound, when you flip over to read the synopsis, you catch sight of the real Mr Berenger, gone to pot and a looking like both "Platoon" and "Someone To Watch Over Me" had never hapened!

If you were to say that this was thriller, reading the front and back of the video/dvd cover would indeed make you believe so. However this is just another steak dinner swimming around in Tom's gut.

No harm no fowl to anybody involved in this movie, as i like anyone, loves a good yarn, but Cardone has not done us any favours here by parading an endless dislay of situations wrapped up in a scenario that could've popped up in anything from Homicide to NYPD Blue.

An Ironic twist kicking around in this movie, is the lead character's name, unlike his famous other, Rem Macy is most definitely no oil painting, which was also mirrored in his living habits. I guess in hindsight the casting of Berenger was a stroke of genius, as he was looking in need of the work.

Watch this movie and remember the scene in "Platoon" when Berenger's character and Willem Dafoe's square off in the vietnamese village, you wonder could Dafoe maybe sometime pay Berenger a visit and slap some sense into him, and perhaps be a bit more choosy about his next role, which judging by his character's chain smoking habit, could be the next advert warning upon the perils of killing your lungs!

But hey this was only a movie, take it or leave it, until J.S. Cardone conjurs up his next slice of over ripe hokum.

The classic formulae. Good cop, drinks too much, good cop wallows in his own self pity, good cop gets led astray.

True Blue, though very nicely shot (when viewed on DVD), with a style that I am inclined to think the DOP learned his trade through shooting Commercials, is reminiscent of an average TV drama.

Berenger, who shows promise, but never quite delivers in this role, plays against a confusing backdrop of prostitution and asian crime gangs. Though never one thing or another, the director neither commits to the full communication of the dark underground sex themes which the plot suggest, nor does he create a subtle undertone of this, choosing rather to sit firmly on the fence between both. Unlike 8mm which chooses rather to show in more detail the deviant sex it is revolving around (in actual fact, going to far simply for shock value).

At the same time, Lori Heuring, who plays Nikki, is as false and cosmetic as her perfect body, which does little to raise interest levels.

Perhaps, the director would have done better to concentrate his efforts on giving this film a little more heart, instead of attempting a pseudo "Bladerunner" pastiche. But then again, perhaps this is never going to happen, as this egotistical film maker, who is neither Director, Writer or Producer (though choosing to be all these things on the making of his films). Choosing rather to have full control over his below average productions, instead of allowing the skills of others to influence and most certainly improve his mediocre and bland 'work'.

It is therefore not surprising to note, that the strongest point on this film, the filmography, is the only key role which does not carry the name "J.S. Cardone" of the director.

Not a 'truly bad' film, but very very bad never the less.