TV Reviews : ‘Wharf Rat’s’ World of Corrupt Police

The Showtime movie “The Wharf Rat” transpires in a shadowy underworld occupied by career criminals and unethical cops. Indeed, corruption runs so rampant in this film’s urban jungle that even the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division is in need of moral housecleaning.

In the wake of the troubling and explosive Mark Fuhrman tapes, portions of “The Wharf Rat” can’t help but take on added resonance. The now-familiar phrase “code of silence” comes immediately to mind when an honest cop, Matt (Scott Cohen), anticipates the bitter reaction of his colleagues should he expose the shenanigans of his virulent partner, Doc (Judge Reinhold).

But overall, “The Wharf Rat” falls short of being a timely and incisive social examination of rogue cops and robbers and how their lives and attitudes intertwine. This well-intentioned but flawed suspense-thriller is too busy trying to establish a snappy and witty momentum to capture a truly gritty reality.

The film begins promisingly with the introduction of two brothers living on opposite sides of the law. Matt is such a righteous lawman that he isn’t at all reluctant to send his own delinquent sibling Petey (Lou Diamond Phillips) to prison. Petey is a “wharf rat” who launders stolen goods from the city’s waterfront.

But before this intriguing familial relationship can be properly developed, Matt is gunned down by his coldblooded partner. The dramatic void left by Matt is never suitably filled by Dexter (Rachel Ticotin), a determined female reporter who helps Petey understand the circumstances surrounding his brother’s death.

More appealing is the film’s occasionally off-beat sense of humor. The character of Bucko (William Dunlop) is a delightfully eccentric ex-convict who lands a job as a bouncer in a nightclub featuring female impersonators.

“The Wharf Rat” was written and directed by Jimmy Huston and produced by Paul Kimatian.

* “The Wharf Rat” airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on Showtime.