Brown's Requiem is a neat little slice of Los Angeles film noir in the tradition of L.A. Confidential and Mulholland Falls. It's based on a book of the same name that's written by James Ellroy, who actually wrote L.A. Confidential as well, so the crime vibe here is thick, rich and genuine. Michael Rooker is flat out fantastic as Fritz Brown, a world weary, hard bitten private investigator who is hired by a rotund caddie named Fat Dog (Will Sasso) to find his kid sister (Selma Blair) a wayward girl who has apparently run off with a her sugar daddy, and may be in danger. Brown noses around and before he knows it he's neck deep in police corruption, violence and murder. It's convoluted, but film noir always is, and when the plot is left to bake in the California sun, it's going to be nicely sinewy and labyrinthine to please all the filmgoers put there who fancy themselves gumshoes and like to decipher the happenings along with the protagonist. The trail leads Brown to sinister police captain Cathcart (the late Brion James), brutal thug Richard Ralston (Jack Conley) and many other bottom dwelling nasties. This is a rare lead role for Rooker and he's riveting, fitting this genre protagonist like a glove. His innate menace and gruff whisper of a voice are put to good use as the hangdog tough guy takes care of business in style. Watch out for Kevin Corrigan, Tobin Bell, Christopher Meloni and a brief but darkly funny cameo from Brad Dourif. Where L.A. Confidential hid it's grit beneath a sheen of glamour, Brown's Requiem wears it proudly on its seedy sleeve, a scrappy little cousin to Confidential, and a sturdy little noir mystery boosted by Rooker's work.

Warning: SPOILERS! I'm suprised no one else seems to have noticed the Chinatown homage this movie does. Kudos to Michael Rooker I'd like to see him in more lead roles. I also liked the irony of Fatdog being both a big fan of Hitler and unknowingly being the son of a Jew. This is just what you want from a small film. A modest production yielding good, but modest, results.

I stumbled onto this film and was not really sure what it was about but the guy in it is from Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer and he was great. The film was very dark and I came out of the theater wanting to have a beer. I don't know that I can do a great job explaining it but it was more than a detective story. It was about this guy and he really didn't want to drink and he gets this case...a weirdo caddie wants him to check out who's playing around with his sister. The film made me feel like I sometimes feel when my life sucks and I guess that was the point. So if you're looking for fun see something else, but if you like'em dark, check out this

A film of no direction, little plot-line, an absence of meaning and leaves you with a feeling of being financially raped and abused ... where the $5 million went on making this film is anybody's guess!Hugely disappointing and shouldn't have even been released as a 'direct to video' film ... one of the worst movies of the decadeR,M,S & D