A Question of Innocence

Rating: 8/10 (10 March 2019)

It looks like this is another one of those films that I missed during a period of time when I didn't go and see films anywhere near as much as I did in the past, or I do so now (which is probably between 2000 and 2006). So, during that time I really wasn't paying all that much attention to what was coming out, or even going and seeing films that did come out at the time. However, this is also one of those films that seem to keep on popping up every so often, and a part of me felt that maybe it is worth actually going back and watching, particularly since Washington did win an oscar for his role in the film.
I have to admit that it is pretty gripping, and things seem to get deeper and deeper as the film progresses, though we should note that the entire film occurs over the span of a single day. Basically the film opens up with a beat cop Jake being offered a position as a narcotics detective, as long as he successfully completes a single day on the job, which is basically an evaluation. Obviously Jake is pretty egar to impress.
The thing is that there are a lot of things going on behind the scene which is slowly being revealed to us, but not necessarily to Jake, namely because Jake is not quite in earshot, or simply assumes that everything is above board. Sure, he sort of has some suspicions that things are not quite right, but sure enough, he is an innocent beat cop who is eager to please, so he isn't really all that keen on asking too many questions.
That is the other thing about the film, and that it is basically told entirely from his perspective. Unfortunately, unlike literature, we aren't really able to get into his mind, and understand what he is thinking, but then again the film doesn't actually provide us with a narrative. Should it? I'm not entirely sure, because it still sort of works out, at least most of the way through the film.
Well, sort of, because once we get to the end, the coincidences do start to pile up, such as the girl whom he saved turning out to be the cousin of the guy that has been paid to kill him, which means that he spares his life and lets him go. Yet, if we work on the principle of Chekov's gun, that incident earlier in the film really does need to have a reason for occurring, particularly since he picks up her wallet after she leaves - even though Hollywood movies don't necessarily follow that rule, having such a thing occur without having a reason for it later on in the film would effectively be sloppy film making, and it certainly isn't one of those films that throws red herrings at you.
It is an interesting look at corruption in the world of the detectives. Look, corrupt cops are nothing new, there have been countless numbers of films and TV shows made about them, and of course they never seem to actually get away with being corrupt. Though this story is much more interesting, particularly since our detective lives in the heart of gang territory, and doesn't seem to have a problem with living in the heart of gang territory. Sure, he is corrupt, but I think the film goes a little further than that.
For instance, Jake, at the beginning of the film, refuses to smoke any marijuana because, well, cops don't do drugs - remember, he is pretty innocent - yet is suddenly told that one needs to be a little flexible if one is going to be effective. By sticking to a moral code means that you are going to be outing yourself pretty quickly. Yet by bending your moral code raises the question as to how far you are going to bend, and the further you bend the more corrupt you eventually become.
I guess Alonzo, our detective, in a way is a very tragic character. He is a highly decorated officer, yet in becoming effective has resulted in him becoming corrupt, and the more effective he becomes, the more corrupt he becomes. Yet it isn't just him that has fallen down, because it seems that the rot has spread far and wide throughout the system - it is just that Alonzo, as we soon find out, has stepped just that little bit too far over the line to discover that he has found himself in what is effectively a no win situation, that eventually tips him over the edge.
In this case, sometimes innocence, and the desire to maintain one's honour, can save one from falling too far, yet it also results in an awful lot of sacrifice, since it is clear that Jake probably will not being going down the path of the narcotics detective, though this is never really made clear at the end of the film.