I don't get what they are doing there at all. I would think the would fly someone in from Anchorage if needed, or FBI. Friends of the chief, that's rich.
Then, of the handful of officers they have, one is a big fan of a detective they flew in.
THE ONLY CRITIC WHO CAN REVIEW WHILE JOGGING:
http://bit.ly/1pPzoBc
It's a plot device, get over it. Crazier things have happened.
shareThe chief wanted a piece of advice on the case from Pacino's character and he instead came to Alaska to escape the questioning from internal affairs about other cases. The chief was quite surprised and told Pacino's character about it. They did not call for him, he decided to go to this secluded area from his own selfish reasons.
As for Swank's character, she either knew Dormer from police academy (where they studied his cases, as he was a prominent detective) or from the chief of the local police, who was a friend of Dormer.
Great answer, I was gonna say that.
He was asked for advice from his friend and offered to go help. He wanted time from IA to talk his partner of not uncovering him.
The cop probably had to do some job and learned about him from her chief. She got interested and studied his cases in other jobs.
The strange thing here is that, if Ellie was fan of Dormer and knew a friend of him, why haven't she ever asked to meet him. They should have known each other by that time.
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Et voilà! Say no more!
shareI thought it was the boss/sergeant in LA robbery/homicide who Charlie had talked to for advice on the case, and his/her decision to send them both up there, basically to take them out of the firing line (no pun intended!) of what was happening with the IA investigation making the news.
Never thought about that before re Ellie - it's possible she ended up studying Dormer's cases because Charlie knew him, rather than it being an insane co-incidence. A little more exposition when she's driving them to the station would have cleared that up, though.