An Afghanistan War Vet Takes on New Orleans' Dirty Cops in 'Black and Blue'

In the crime thriller "Black and Blue" (out now on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital), Alicia West (Naomie Harris, who plays Moneypenny in the James Bond movies) was a kid who joined the Army to get out of the New Orleans projects and did two tours in Afghanistan. She decides to return home and join the police department.

Things have gotten worse in New Orleans since she left, and the people she grew up with don't want anything to do with her now that she's blue. As a rookie cop, she wears a body cam and accidentally films narcotics detectives executing a drug dealer. Things totally go to hell for her after that.

The city of New Orleans plays a huge role in the movie. Unlike a lot of action movies, it's filmed in the location where the story takes place, and director Deon Taylor takes full advantage of what the city has to offer.

We've got a bonus clip about New Orleans from the home video's special features.

The dirty cops are led by action-movie staples Frank Grillo ("Zero Dark Thirty," "End of Watch") and Beau Knapp ("Semper Fi," "Sand Castle"). Tyrese Gibson (from the "Fast and Furious" series) is the guy from the neighborhood who steps up to help her. Mike Colter ("Luke Cage") is the gang leader whose nephew gets executed, and Reid Scott ("VEEP") is West's compromised partner.

"Black and Blue" is the kind of bent cop movie that usually takes place in Los Angeles. It's not hard to imagine an earlier draft of the script with Harris' character as a Latinx veteran returning to East LA and encountering corruption in the LAPD. Setting the movie in post-Katrina New Orleans gives a fresh spin to a beloved movie genre.

The film doesn't hold back on the violence: There's shooting, stabbing, whacks on the head with tire irons, and some martial arts-style hand-to-hand combat.

Minor spoiler: Dirty cops aren't used to dealing with a war veteran's tactical skills, but you knew that already.