Title: Badge of Honor
ALCHEMY
Director: Agustin
Writers: Anthony Thorne, Kevin Barrett, Nick Montalvo, Agustin
Cast: Mena Suvari, Jesse Bradford, Lochlyn Munro, Haylie Duff, Natasha Henstridge, Patrick Muldoon and Martin Sheen
Running Time: 1hr 34min
Rated: Unrated (Sex, Nudity, Violence, Language)

Detective David Miles (Lochlyn Munro, White Chicks) and  detective Mike Gallo (Jesse Bradford, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell) are working on a drug bust, when the sting goes bad. Giving chase to one of the drug dealers, Gallo accidentally kills teenage boy and Miles helps him cover it up.  They give their corroborated statement to the captain (Martin Sheen, The West Wing) and they move on with their miserable lives…until detective Jessica Dawson (Mena Suvari, American Beauty) transfers into Internal Affairs and is appointed to investigate the teenager’s killing.  She begins to dig a little too deep for detective Miles’ liking and he’s running out of witnesses and contacts to snuff out.  Jessica knows one or both of the detectives are dirty, and isn’t afraid of jumping into the fray to find the truth and get justice for the dead teenager’s family.

The Good: I liked Mena Suvari’s performance. Jessica is a bad-ass, strong woman.  She’s come a long way since the good-girl Heather from the American Pie franchise and strumpet Angela from American Beauty. Lochlyn Munro is usually cast as the second fiddle, but shows here he can play a convincing villain.

The Bad: The script was predictable and the dialogue was just bad.  Lots of gratuitous sex and nudity that did nothing for the story…but Natasha Henstridge still looks great.  The two narcotics detectives were too inept to pull off a cover-up.  Either blame the direction or writing, because the audience is just rooting for them to fail from the start.  The fact that Miles’ soon to be ex wife (Natasha Henstridge, Species) is banging the head of Internal Affairs, his character is preordained to be doomed.  The ending was also too sappy. Shut the door, fade to black. Boo.

Entertainment-wise, Badge of Honor wasn’t too disappointing.  It’s one of those films you just happen to catch on a movie channel or rent from Redbox when nothing else is available. It’s something that you can enjoy and forget about later.

Acting: B
Story: C-
Technical: C

Total Rating: C
Reviewed by: JM Willis