Brooklyn's Finest

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Year:	2009
Country of origin:	USA
Director:	Antoine Fuqua
Genre:	Crooked cop crime thriller
Starring:	Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere, Wesley Snipes
Rating:	4/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210042/
Tagline:	This is War. This is Brooklyn.
Favourite line:	"This job takes enough out of you. Don’t take it home."

Antoine Fuqua steps into familiar Training Day territory in this multi-layered crime thriller.

The plot runs in three main strands, each following the lives of three very different police officers, all working for the same department.
Cop 1: Tango, an undercover operative working to expose the major drug dealers in Brooklyn, specifically Wesley Snipes' Caz, recently released from jail and looking to pick up where he left off.
Cop 2: Sal, played with typical nervous energy by Hawke, a wiry bundle of anxiety struggling to pay the bills and, with twins on the way, looking for more unconventional revenue streams, happy to take the spoils of drug trafficking before the city big wigs can get their hands on it to refurbish their expensive office suites.
Cop 3: Eddie, burnt out, alcoholic, starting his days with a large shot of whisky just so he can face donning the uniform one more time. He's on the brink of retirement (yes, that old chestnut, though it is handled well) and finds dealing with the young upstart cops almost as unbearable as the low life criminals he is compelled to endure.
With a grim inevitability, as their lives spiral out of control, the plot strands fuse together, though in an unexpected and pretty original fashion, as the movie culminates in three separate show downs in the same building.

The acting from all parties is excellent, with Gere the stand out in terms of performance, which surprised the hell out of me.
Ethan Hawke is always watchable, and Cheadle was more than acceptable, too.
The director shows flashes of genuine flair (the camera drawback through the building towards the end is exceptionally well done) and the writing is solid too, with believable characters fleshed out with some snappy dialogue, all posturing masculinity and Alpha Male banter.
It's a fairly lengthy film, clocking in just over the two hour mark, but not once did I feel the need to look at my watch or wonder how much longer was left, so it never flags.
With a truly astonishing denouement that just runs and runs, this is quality movie making.
Very good indeed.