Brooklyn's Finest

After a few years of mediocrity after the great “Training Day”, Antoine Fuqua is back with another movie about cops that blur the line between good and evil. We follow three cops in this movie. Richard Gere is Eddie, a beat cop who is seven days from retiring. Ethan Hawke is Sal, the narco who is in desperate need of money to provide for his family. Finally, Don Cheadle is Tango, the undercover cop who has been under too long.

I think the first thing I’d like to say is the performances are really good without being flashy or too loud. Gere is very good as Eddie, the cop who just wants his pension and doesn’t want to change the world. Gere really conveys the mans lack of direction, a man who has no purpose and no fight left. I never really liked Gere, but he really impressed me. Hawke is very good as Sal. Sal has 5 kids and twins on the way and lives in too small a house with mold. Right off the bat, we are shown that Sal is willing to do anything to get the money he needs to provide for his family. He is very nervous, twitchy and racked with guilt at doing the things he does and not being able to provide for his family. Cheadle, who I think is the weakest of the bunch, is very good as Tango. Tango has been under so long, the line between cop and criminal is starting to blur. Everyone is very good here, even the weaker links. Wesley Snipes is billed on the poster, but he’s a glorified supporting character. But he is very good as Caz, the kingpin who wants to leave the game after a 8 year bid in prison. I also liked seeing three alums from HBO’s “The Wire”, specifically Omar, Wee Bey, and Clay Davis (Michael Williams, Hassan Johnson and Issiah Whitlock Jr.).

The movie is sort of a slow burner. It moves at a slower than most pace, although we are following three arcs. The arcs in this movie aren’t typical Hollywood, the closest being Hawkes role. But even as it comes close to being cliche, the movie veers away. Geres arc seems very realistic, the guy who just does the job and doesn’t stand out. Hawkes is the most ambiguous, as a man who does bad things but only does it to provide for his family. Cheadles is the most sympathetic, as the man who goes undercover and starts to lose his senses. Everything moves perfectly, with every scene adding to character. My favorite arc has to be Geres, because it seems so real. But I like all arcs. My only gripe is I wish we could be with these guys more.

The movie is nothing groundbreaking. It doesn’t do anything that will be mimicked for years to come. As a movie, it’s better than “Training Day” but doesn’t have the performances to match up to what Washington and Hawke did there. But it is a very solid piece of cop fiction with some great character work and good performances. If the movie doesn’t interest you, there’s nothing to change your mind. This is either you’re kind of movie or not.

9 out of 10.