Brooklyn's Finest

I hate Ethan Hawke...HATE!

That aside, let's talk about Fuqua's latest flick.

Let's get this part straight right now.  This is NOT Training Day, as much as the people who put the marketing campaign together for this film want it to be, this is NOT Training Day.

There is no Denzel.

Even worse, there is no performance remotely close to Denzel's Oscar winning performance. 

 As for the film itself, there's a lot going on.  With multiple story lines, the film never hits a decent pace because it constantly jumps from character to character without any of them ever really crossing paths.

At the end, the three main characters do end up at the same location, but none of them intersects with the other.  That is this film's major flaw.

The sad thing is that a lot of the talent in this film is wasted by not really having any need for their character's story line.  Richard Gere is completely wasted and I'm pretty sure that Fuqua just wanted to throw Wesley Snipes a bone for his legal troubles.

I won't even acknowledge that Ethan Hawke is in this flick (see title above) but I will say one thing...the ending of this film brings me great satisfaction.

Is this film a waste of time?

No, not at all.  

Is it going to provide the satisfaction that other Fuqua's films have brought to the table?  

Not even close. 

See it.  Enjoy it.  But forget about it when you leave the theatre.

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brooklyn's finest

this is  a damn fine film.  if you don’t mind some foul language, bloody gun fights and some borderline gratuitus sex.  which i mostly don’t.
this is directed antoine fuqua, who if anyone remembers go denzel washington his oscar for training day.  and that was a damn fine flick as well.  i liked this one better.
talk about a stellar cast, don cheadle, ethan hawke, richard gere and who is that?  wesley snipes?  nice to see you again wesley.  we were getting tired of waiting for blade 4.  hope you made enough to get the tax man off your back.  you are as good as you’ve ever been here.
in fact, this might be my favorite richard gere movie.  everyone is great.
this is a hard core cop drama where there are no good guys.  everyone in this film has some glaring flaws.  there are no clear cut heros or antagonist.  everyone has got major issues.  from alcoholic cops about to retire and just don’t give a flip, to undercover cops with more allegiance to his crime buddy.
i think i’ll go on record and call this the best movie of the year so far.  go see it.  it’s better than alice in wonderland which came out with it this weekend.  unless your a little kid.  then alice is for you.  i mean, i wouldn’t take children to see brooklyn’s finest.
four and a half empty clips out of five.
  Tags: alice in wonderland, antoine fuqua, brooklyn's finest, denzel washington, don cheadle, ethan hawke, richard gere, training day, wesley snipes, will patton

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Cal Reed

Brooklyn's Finest

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Twenty Years of Days...

The fact is that these cops, in Antoine Fuqua's latest passion play, a film called Brooklyn's Finest are not Brooklyn's Finest. They're conflicted men, one of whom is trying to get by (survive) each day, one day at a time by doing as litle as possible. Another is trying to get ahead, financially, one drug bust at a time. And the third, an undercover cop, is simply trying to get out, to regain his life, and the sooner the better.

They're cops working in one of Brooklyn's most deadly and crime infested precints, the 65th. The center piece for this story is a housing project that consists of 18 buildings, and 15,000 residents, all of whom are never more than a few yards away from death: be it a bad shooting by the police, or a war being between rival drug gangs, or the violence that can erupt in any corner bodega or convenience store which are no more than flash points, or tinder boxes, veritable staging areas for brutal violence.



Fuqua and first time screenwriter Michael Martin will take us down some familar pathways. We've been there before with Serpico, Prince of the City, The French Connection, Q & A, American Gangster, and The Departed.  Cops fascinate writers, directors, and the movie going public. Drugs lords and drug wars also tend to be a fodder for Hollywood, or even Bollywood - the film Company comes to mind.

So when we enter the theaters, we kind of know what to expect. That means  the story line, the plot, or even the situations are not going to be new, or even presented in a new way. That leaves us with having to talk about the performances of the principals.



Richard Gere as Ptl. Eddie Dugan gets top billing. He's put in 22 years on the force and as the film opens he's just 7 days away from retirement. He's not well liked in his precinct, his record is spotty or average at best, and when talking to a rookie cop who has been assigned to work with him, he sums up a career in the police as -


Gere performs well enough. The problem with Gere is that he's miscast as a burned-out cop who has nightmares, wakes up needing a shot of whiskey before he even exits his bed, and is suicidal. He just doesn't look the part. What works best for Gere is his looks. And that works against him here. Even at 61 years of age in real life, he still looks like he's in his mid-late 40's or early 50's. As Dugan, he hasn't got a paunch, or a beer belly. His hair is too nicely cut. He's just too pretty for a burn-out.



Don Cheadle is the undercover cop called Tango on the street, but is Clarence Butler to his Commanding Officer played by a smarmy Will Patton. Tango has been under for a long time, he's even done a stretch in prison. His wife is divorcing him - he wants out. He's asked for a promotion and a desk job. He wants his life back.

He's great in his role. You can feel his urgency, his anguish, his need to become whole - and to live his life on just one side of the law. Whether it is his looks, his size, his smoothness as an actor, or his chamelon-ness that enables him to be believable as a cop, or moments later, as a tough thug speaking the patois of those mean streets, he makes you care.



Ethan Hawke is doing his second turn with Director Fuqua. His first was in Training Day (2001), and that role garned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Here he is a Detective working Narcotics. He faces death on a daily basis doing his job. He also sees mountains of money when he makes drug busts. He needs money. He's got a passel of kids with his wife, played by Lili Taylor, and as the movie begins we learn that he's already crossed the line between right and wrong, his wife is expecting twins, and he needs a new home as where he lives now is too small for his ever burgeoning family plus the house is filled with mold which has made his wife sick.

So Hawke as Sal does what he does to take care of his family. He's very good here. More than likely he is the most conflicted character in the story. After doing a very bad thing in a drug bust, we later find him in a confessional talking to his parish priest. When the priest says, God is ready to forgive you, Sal says -


So the films sets up these three characters. We know their story arcs will bring them together at some point and when it happens it is brutal. Actually brutal is not a strong enough word.



Supporting these three we have some terrific performances. One by Wesley Snipes as Caz, the drug lord who has just been released from prison. It's been almost 20 years since Snipes did a turn in New Jack City (1991) as Nino Brown the charismatic head of a drug syndicate. Snipes is older, wiser, and still credible in his role here.



Ellen Barkin plays an over the top bureau chief, who wants to squeeze one more bust out of Cheadle's Tango. She's not going to take no for an answer, and there's no dirty trick she won't play. She doesn't get a lot of screen time, but she snarls her way through both of her scenes. In fact this is one of the least attractive roles for women in the history of films.Her character is identifiably and instantly hated.

The one good cop in the whole film is Sal's partner Ronnie, played by Brian F. O'Byrne. But even he can't do everything right. But we like him nonetheless. And let's give kudos to Shannon  Kane as Chantal, Eddie Dugan's prostitute who is his sole attachment to anything in his life.



Fuqua's canvas of the dangerous times of being a cop in Brooklyn doesn't resonate with uniqueness, or directorial brilliance. He's very good at action, and he's done a very good job with Martin's script. And there's your weak-point in the film - the script. There's no one to root for, no one to cheer for.

When we left the theater, my buddy called it a lousy film. I didn't agree with that. However the film is unrelenting in its bleakness, and it is depressing to know that while these maybe fictional characters, the reality wasn't that far away. The picture is also dark. When the blood flows, it isn't red, its just dark.

Which may match your mood when you leave the theater. And that may be the result of the high body count in the film.

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Recommendations: Chak De! India

Last updated: 2010-03-07 17:34:41 by JustMeMike

Brooklyn's Finest (2009)

Reminds me of the good ole days when cops were just dirty, and nobody  cared. Antoine Fuqua directs this tense drama about three wildly different  New York cops whose paths collide in a Brooklyn housing project, where  each must make a decision that will change the course of their lives  forever. Cynical, washed-up Eddie (Richard Gere) no longer cares about  the job or the rules; cash-strapped Sal (Ethan Hawke) sees a shortcut to  solvency; and Tango (Don Cheadle) is torn between conflicting  loyalties. Ellen Barkin and Wesley Snipes co-stars.
The film directed by Fuqua, is much like his other police drama,  Training Day. It also features that films rookie cop, Ethan Hawke, but  is a big disappointment.
The film is written by Michael C. Martin, a one-time subway flagger  from East New York. And I can already tell this is his first piece of  work, mostly due to the fact it can’t quite find itself. The film has  some very powerfully emotional moments, but also has way too many  cliches as with its plot: the dirty cop, the aging cop, and the  undercover cop fighting with his identity. I have seen this too many  times before and wanted something new.
The film reminded me of Pride and Glory that also dealed with Police  politics, but almost in a better way. The film does have the feel of one  of those old-styled cop films, with its blaring grittiness, and  over-the-top violence that comes at many times. The problem is that  although Fuqua has got the right look and feel, he doesn’t give out the  right emotion. I felt a little bored when these people were talking  mostly because its all the same, and isn’t set as being too suspenseful.
Probably the best thing about this movie that really elevates it is  its cast. Don Cheadle gives another powerful and realistic performance  as the undercover cop, and you actually feel yourself rooting for him  more and more. Hawke, once again, plays that bastard that is always  causing trouble but plays it well here as well. Also, it was good to see  Wesley Snipes back to the screen after a long absence, as he plays one  of those lovable villains that we all know and love him for. I think  Gere, who I obviously don’t like, didn’t have such a good performance  here and I found his story to be the most confusing and actually weakest  of the three.
Consensus: Though the signature grittiness and  action from Fuqua lies within Brooklyn’s Finest, there are too many  uninteresting moments, and difficult paces, but still are backed by  great performances from its cast, minus Richard Gere.
5.5/10=Rental!!

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