So, the first thing they do is put words on the screen to tell you that person X and person Y were responsible for the largest taking down of a criminal organization ever. I'm not saying that this really undermines the tension of the story, but it really does. It's the equivalent of telling you that Rosebud is a sled at the beginning of Citizen Kane.
Willem Dafoe plays the angry, rule-breaking cop who gets the job done despite interference from his superiors. The role clearly breaks all the molds, and really gives him a lot of room to make the character his own. Wow. I'm being more sarcastic than usual tonight, and I'm not sure it will translate to the written word. Essentially, there was not much to the role, and he did an okay job, including the big old mustache that I'm pretty sure he stole off of Paul Teutul Sr from Orange County Choppers.
Sporting similar facial hair is Matt Dillon, who is not dead (much to my surprise). He plays the bad guy who has a heart of gold. See, he's married to Amy Smart, who is very, very pregnant with his child. He's had a lot of dealings with even worse people than himself, and he now has enough information to make their lives terrible. After some proper motivation, he decides to turn rat and give up all the information that he has on the REAL bad guys in exchange for protection and skipping jail time.
Tom Berenger has the wardrobe of a lifetime. He wears hats, strange suits, and he even has a shirt that has three collar buttons that he cavalierly didn't even bother to button; not one. Not content with the frowny-face mustaches of the other two main actors, he goes full Colonel Sanders. Pile on top of that the pretty horrible Louisiana accent, and you have a crime kingpin who is not particularly intimidating.
Facial hair was disconcerting
Acting was generally good
Story was a bit boring
Dialog was uncompelling
Direction was uninspired.
Bottom Line: Just too boring to recommend. Even it's old title, Whiskey Bay, sounds boring.
1.75/5