‘HAVOC’ RATED TV-MA ON NETFLIX

If you ever had the chance over a decade ago to watch the Indonesian crime films “The Raid” and “The Raid 2,” both directed by Gareth Evans, you will have a good idea of the mayhem in store with the film “Havoc” on Netflix.

Brutal fast-paced action scenes and nicely choreographed fights are the trademark style of Evans, and since he wrote as well directed “Havoc,” he’s almost like the Welsh version of Michael Bay (“Bad Boys”) or John Woo (“Hard Boiled”).

It’s not even five minutes in before the action jump-starts with a slew of police cars chasing a stolen semitrailer racing through the streets of a generically dingy metropolis and on to a freeway.

The truck is carrying washing machines loaded with cocaine, and this could be the first time that a major appliance has been used as a weapon, which is something to behold as an expedient utility of destruction.

Much is going on with action from Triad gangsters muscling in on narcotics smuggling; dirty cops seizing drugs for themselves; a corrupt businessman running for mayor; and power struggles in the criminal underworld.

Enter Tom Hardy’s Walker, a dirty cop having second thoughts on his shady dealings, who treats his young daughter as an afterthought on Christmas Eve when shopping for a last-minute gift. Not surprisingly, he’s also estranged from his wife.

Walker is the catalyst for most of the extremely volatile shootouts, and honestly the body count gets so high at times that it’s hard to know who is on what side. The action is so stylized that it verges on losing significant meaning.

Aside from the overly amped-up action, “Havoc” is also a bloody redemption story for Tom Hardy’s Walker, a police officer growing no longer hardened to the systemic corruption that pervades the dystopian landscape he inhabits.

The film benefits also tremendously for its casting of Forest Whitaker as the politically ambitious businessman trying to reconnect with his wayward son; Timothy Olyphant’s ringleader in a band of corrupt officers; Jessie Mae Li’s only honest cop in a crooked system; and Luis Guzman doing his usual thing.

There’s a lot to like with the thriller style of “Havoc” but the downside being not enough character development and a bit too much of some bloody, gory shootouts that might make certain Hong Kong action directors flinch.

At least “Havoc” is streaming so that one could decide either to bail out, hang in for the duration, or take periodic breaks to recover from any sensory overload. Yet, Tom Hardy’s conflicted cop might be the best reason to watch.




‘DOVEY’S PROMISE’ Not Rated

A riveting courtroom drama that brings to life the extraordinary true story of civil rights attorney Dovey Roundtree (Joy White) proves to be of interest, among other reasons, for a footnote in history related to our 35th president.

“Dovey’s Promise” features Black attorney Dovey Roundtree (Joy White) as one of the few women in the legal profession at the time, taking on the case of Raymond Crump (Terrence Mombrun), a poor Black laborer accused of murdering Mary Pinchot Meyer.

Seemingly, Crump was in the wrong place at the wrong time when Pinchot Meyer was taking her daily walk along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

Known in the upper crust social circles in our nation’s capital, Pinchot Meyer was allegedly the secret lover of President John F. Kennedy, a romantic involvement that was apparently confirmed years later after her death by various sources.

The death of Pinchot Meyer was not that long after the assassination of President Kennedy. The murder of a well-connected socialite draws the United States Department of Justice into the fray.

The prosecution of Raymond Crump, backed by the federal government, became a flashpoint in American legal history, and Dovey Roundtree found herself in the thick of a momentous civil rights case.

The prosecution presented Crump as the obvious suspect, despite a complete lack of physical evidence tying him to the crime. Against the odds, Roundtree saw the case as a racially motivated attempt to frame an innocent man.

Roundtree took the important case of “United States v. Ray Crump” for a fee of one dollar. With a case that appeared stacked against the defendant, Roundtree was supposedly initially dubious about his innocence.

The government had witnesses and exhibits with so-called facts that were abjectly persuasive. Nevertheless, Roundtree won the case with painstaking dismantling of the evidence, particularly that of the eyewitnesses who apparently never had a solid look at the suspect.

A credible claim could be made that Dovey Roundtree was the Rosa Parks of the legal profession, at a time when civil rights violations were epidemic and landmark cases for desegregation resulted in a push for equal treatment under the 14th Amendment.

“Dovey’s Promise,” if for no other reason, may be of interest for a historical perspective of the civil rights struggle and the connection to President John F. Kennedy.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.