An Okay Look At Brooklyn’s Finest

HOME

ABOUT JACKIE

NEWS

BOOKS

MOVIES

VIDEOS

TELEVISION

COLUMNS

LINKS

CONTACT

Etah Hawke and Lily Taylor in "Brooklyn's Finest"
courtesy of Overture Pictures

“An Okay Look At Brooklyn’s Finest”

Out on DVD this week is “Brooklyn’s Finest,” a fairly good movie directed by Antoine Fuqua of “Training Day” fame. Once again this talented director takes us into the world of the police on the beat, undercover and in the raids. “Brooklyn’s Finest” focuses on three men who are on the Brooklyn police payroll. They are played by Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke and Don Cheadle and each actor brings something special to his role.

Sal (Hawke) is a dedicated policeman but more than that he is a dedicated family man. He and his wife Angela (Lily Taylor) are good Catholics and the proud parents of five children. Now Angela is pregnant with twins and Sal has to get her a new home. She is asthmatic and the wood mole in their current house is making her sick. But to get a new house requires more money than Sal earns so he has taken to picking up drug money and making it his own.

Tango (Cheadle) is an undercover cop. He is deep undercover and is ready to come out. His boss (Will Patton) keeps promising a big promotion if he will stay on the job for a few more days. So Tango stays and works with a drug kingpin named Caz (Wesley Snipes). The problem is Caz and Tango form a bond of sorts, and while he is working to get the guys who supply the drugs he wants to protect Caz to some extent.

Eddie (Gere) is a cop who is burned out totally. He has less than a week to go before his retirement is effective and so he wants only to go through the motions and stay safe. When he is assigned a rookie to ride with him it angers him because he doesn’t want to be responsible for anyone else.

These three stories only tangentially touch as they play out to a distinct climax in each case. Still the stories form a whole because of their common origin. It all has to do with being a cop and how the various duties and various familial situations can add to the pressure of the job.

All three actors are excellent in their roles. Cheadle creates a character who has that frenetic urge to get things done so he can get out. He is volatile and his explosions come out of the blue. Gere’s character is dead-eyed and disconnected. He has checked out mentally if not physically. Hawke’s character is the most emotional. He is torn between the job and his family and also between what is right and what is wrong. He is a character struggling with divisive elements within himself.

“Brooklyn’s Finest“ is a film that grips you from the very first scene and holds your interest throughout the movie. It is intense and emotional. The three characters capture your mind and you walk with them down the path to tragedy, tragedy that comes in different shapes and different forms.

The storylines may be a little too coincidental in the way the evolution of the action occurs but overall the movie keeps you waiting for the next event to happen. To me that is pretty good entertainment.

Even better entertainment is “ER: The Complete Thirteenth Season.” This is a six disc collection of all twenty-three episodes form this season plus some bonus footage you have never seen even if you are the most devoted “ER” watcher.

This is the season that brought back Dr. Tony Gates (John Stamos) back to the emergency room. He is now an intern and his life and skills gets all entangled with those of the doctors and patients on view there.

Stamos joins a cast that contains the popular Goran Visnjic, Linda Cardellini, Maura Tierney, Scott Grimes and many others. Plus in episode after episode there is a plethora of great guest stars.

This is television entertainment at its best. You won’t be disappointed that’s for sure. If you are an “ER” fan then you have to have “ER: The Complete Thirteenth Season.”

Click above to find out more about Jackie's books!