Cop stories have long been a Hollywood staple. Studios learned very early on that they could use the genre to show so many aspects of real life. The law, humanity, violence, corruption and if they were careful, even a little romance. In recent years the genre has become violence, violence and more violence, sometimes with a story thrown in, if we're lucky. For the record, I am not opposed to violence, I just want a purpose for it and believe it should be second to the story. This picture (in my humble opinion) seemed as though a bunch of writers wrote a huge number of violent scenes and then as an afterthought one of them said : "Hey, I've got a great idea! We should write a story to go with all this chaos!"

These are the totally unrelated stories of three NYPD cops. Eddie (Richard Gere) is the jaded, 22 year veteran with only 7 days to retirement and starts the picture with a pistol in his mouth. Tango (Don Cheadle) is undercover trying to stop Brooklyn's drug flow and runs into a conflict when he must decide between a promotion and arresting Caz (Wesley Snipes), a fresh from the pen dope dealer, who he owes a huge debt to. And then there's Sal (Ethan Hawke), whose family is growing faster than his paycheck and he needs money... fast! He and the wife have four kids and she is expecting twins. He's a totally ruthless, rogue cop that's stealing and killing to help his family and sees nothing wrong with his actions. These stories never really intersect, but they all get resolved. The best thing I can say is, all those who needed to die did. I'll leave it there.

Director Antoine Fuqua seems to have carved out his Hollywood niche in blood and more blood and this picture perfectly illustrates his intent. In this case that intent wasn't enough. Was this picture a disaster? No. It just didn't work for me. Something was missing and that something was a script. The story was thin and Gere's role seemed like it was tacked on very late in the process. Nothing against Gere. He's a great actor and did the best he could with what was handed to him. Cheadle and Snipes were adequate and I guess the best acting was from Hawke who was gritty, edgy and a total mess, which worked. They totally wasted Will Patton and Ellen Barkin who are both very good at their trade. This could have been a much better picture. It had all the elements needed. Great actors, lots of action, and it was shot in the garden spot of the east coast... Brooklyn (That's for you, John and Julie). All of these factors could have made a fabulous picture. My suggestion is, next time write the story and THEN put the violence in.

RECOMMENDATION: If violence and blood ring your bell and you expect nothing else, this is your picture. If you want a real story with cohesiveness and characters you are allowed to like, pass on this one.

TWO REGRETTABLY, DISSATISFIED THUMBS DOWN. (sad)

Movie Review © 2010 by Terry Anderson