Review of Blue Murder (1995) by Kunst J — 06 Nov 2011

First of all there's a massive stuff up on this page. The Tony Martin credited here is not the Tony Martin who played the role of Arthur "Neddy" Smith in this film.

Blue Murder was originally aired as a two part miniseries. Thanks to an incredible attention to detail it's an authentic and confronting crime drama that should serve as a template for anyone wanting to make realistic films about the underworld. Richard Roxburgh is superb as crooked cop Roger Rogerson and Tony Martin gives a tour de force performance playing career criminal Arthur "Needy" Smith. How his performance as Neddy didn't launch an international career for Martin is a mystery to me. Steve Bastoni also features as good cop Michael Drury but he's overshadowed by the larger the life performances of those around him.

The story revolves around Rogerson and Smith. Rogerson a rising star in the police force realizes he needs inside information from criminals to get the job done and soon finds the line between cop and criminal becoming blurred. "Neddy" once a two bit crim gets the "green light" from Rogerson to do whatever he likes in return for serving up other crims and he ends becoming the head of a major drug and crime syndicate, while Rogerson continues to get plaudits for being a super cop. When honest cop Michael Drury is thrown into the mix his problems escalate when he turns down a bribe from Rogerson and finds himself in a life and death struggle to bring Rogerson and Smith to justice.

The performances of supporting actors like Alex Dimitriades, Peter Phelps and Gary Sweet are all first class and the addition of real TV interviews and news stories (as this is based on real life events) add an extra layer of realism. There are also several brilliantly executed scenes like "the boat ride" that'll stay in your mind long after the credits have rolled. Blue Murder strikes the perfect balance between character driven drama and action and is a must for lovers of the crime genre.