As I said a month ago while still in Toronto, Harrelson has done it again: “..as Dave Brown, a second generation policeman in the Rampart Division who rides his cop car like a Marlboro man, smoking, drinking, never eating.  For him, Downtown LA is the frontier; he even gets out of his car as if he were climbing off a saddle into the muck. His moniker is “Date Rape.” He doesn’t go gentle through the night with perps, a practice that has now put his position on the force in peril. His jaw juts and his shades cover nearly dead eyes. Yes, he could be a character out of a Jim Thompson novel, The Killer Inside Me.”

Now, Sasha Stone chimes in at Awards Daily: “For the first time, I’ve seen a performance that has to be considered one of the strongest contenders to win Best Actor so far this year.  George Clooney, Jean DuJardin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gary Oldman and Brad Pitt all are in contention to win.  The other notable performance is Michael Fassbender in Shame.  Somewhere in there room might have to be made for Woody Harrelson’s bad cop in Oren Moverman’s exceptional film, Rampart. ”

Bang-bang, you shot me down, bang-bang…