Rogue City Parent Guide
This story has been told before and told better.
Parent Movie Review
Trouble is brewing in beautiful sunny Marseilles. A devastating gangland shootout is raising tensions between rival criminal families, and the fallout could be catastrophic for the city. Worse, it seems that a number of senior police officers assigned to special gang units are feeding information to the criminals, creating a corruption scandal ready to destroy the entire police department. Under the austere guidance of a new police chief, Ange Leonetti (Jean Reno), it seems that it’s down to officer Richard Vronski (Lannick Gautry) and his supervisor, Captain Campana (Patrick Catalifo) to both solve the murders and prevent his department from collapsing around his ears.
If the French cop thrillers I’ve seen this year are any indication, the French have a serious corruption problem with the police. While there are undoubtedly some serious social consequences for this, in terms of movies it seems to mean a bland and predictable approach to storytelling. It’s the kind of story we’ve seen in American cop movies for years – a couple of die-hard officers who play on the ragged edge of the rulebook have to put aside their moral qualms to get the job done and crack down on some villainous crime families.
On top of being bland, the movie is generally unpleasant to watch. Apart from the excessive (if realistic) profanity, the film has a very French approach to sex and nudity – meaning lots of both. My personal low point with the film was the chase scene involving a fully nude man. If you’ve never seen a naked man running, I don’t recommend it. It’s just plain undignified. Another pet peeve of mine is the casual use of sexual assault as a threat. Secondary female characters are given almost nothing by way of character development, and seem to simply loiter around the film as either decoration or as potential victims. It’s lazy, offensive, and morally repugnant.
But if you’re somehow ok with that, there’s also some bloody violence which makes this unsuitable for younger audiences. And, of course, unless you’re fluent in French, you’re going to have to put up with the subtitles. The dialogue moves fast, so the subtitles come and go quickly, meaning that unless you’re only staring at the bottom third of the screen the entire time, you’ll probably miss something.
I’ve seen a lot of police dramas, and there’s a broad range in quality, with this one falling in the bottom third. It’s not the worst cop drama I’ve ever seen, but it’s cliched, uninteresting, and uninspired – a movie written by throwing darts at a board of plot elements from more interesting films. Save yourself the trouble.
Directed by Olivier Marchal. Starring Lannick Gautry, Stanislas Merhar, and Kaaris. Running time: 116 minutes. Theatrical release October 30, 2020. Updated February 5, 2021
Rogue City
Rating & Content Info
Why is Rogue City rated TV-MA? Rogue City is rated TV-MA by the MPAA
Violence: Many people are shot and killed. A woman suffering from terminal cancer is voluntarily euthanized. A man is shown killing a dog and then himself with a shotgun. A woman is beaten and threatened with rape. A woman is threatened with abortion. An individual is murdered in front of their child.
Sexual Content: There is frequent crude sexual language. There are several scenes which depict sex and nudity, including full frontal nudity. There are references to and depictions of adultery.
Profanity: There are 43 uses of extreme profanity, 12 scatological curses, and frequent mild profanities and terms of deity.
Alcohol / Drug Use: Individuals are shown drinking, sometimes to excess. One character is depicted as an alcoholic. Individuals are frequently shown smoking cigarettes. There are references to illegal drugs but none are seen or used.
Page last updated February 5, 2021
Rogue City Parents' Guide
Vronski and Campana believe they have to bend the rules to catch the killers and the crooked cops. Do you agree with their decisions? What are the risks of their choices?
Home Video
The most recent home video release of Rogue City movie is October 30, 2020. Here are some details…
Related home video titles:
Another French cop thriller about a rough and ready group of officers is Les Miserables, which focuses more on the community consequences of their behavior. A better option in the genre is Martin Scorcese’s The Departed, starring Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio.