I'll start at the top admitting I like my detective dramas to be dark, gripping, intelligent and firmly grounded in reality, however bizarre the crime story being told. I don't want superheroes in suits, impervious to beatings and bullets; I don't want ridiculously convoluted mysteries solved by unbelievable coincidence or unearned insights; I don't want villains who are Evil with a capital E, devoid of believable psychology, or even humanity - however twisted their actions might prove. So I am happy to have found the Department Q series! Much better than the majority of Hollywood detective dramas, these are somber, dark, gritty affairs, which are entirely believable without sacrificing suspense or bizarre, original crimes. Particularly in this first entry, they even go out of their way to portray a heinous, sadistic individual (imagine planning to slowly torture a victim for years!) who we are then made to understand, and even sympathize with, in a key sequence that is heartbreaking. You then watch this person for the remainder of the film without the comfortable distancing of a cartoon "Monster". Here the common, almost clichéd, character of the hard drinking "rogue cop" who is so obsessed and dedicated - however brilliant - no one wants to partner with him is treated realistically; those conditions are a result of a flawed personality, not some conceits assigned to an otherwise "likable" character who is usually also charming and funny and simply misunderstood by the two dimensional people around him. But the best characters can be interesting and involving while at the same time being frustrating and easy to dislike if the filmmakers have the courage to present a dimensional human being. And the characters here are three-dimensional. I highly recommend this film unless you're uncomfortable thinking that bad guys are humans too, that delving into the dark exacts a toll and all damaged cops don't smirk and crack one-liners like Bruce Willis selling out.
