Today’s quick review: Brooklyn’s Finest. As tension mounts in Brooklyn’s most crime-ridden neighborhood, three police officers are pushed to their limits: Sal (Ethan Hawke) resorts to criminal measures to provide for his family, Eddie (Richard Gere) approaches retirement with almost no faith left in his fellow man, and Tango (Don Cheadle) wrestles with the cost of his undercover work when he’s asked to set up his best friend Caz (Wesley Snipes).
Brooklyn’s Finest is a gritty crime drama about a trio of Brooklyn cops who face acute moral challenges in the line of duty. Brooklyn’s Finest explores the dangers of being a police officer and the narrow line between dutiful officer and gun-toting criminal. Its tense conflicts and talented leads give it a solid base to build from. However, a relentlessly bleak tone and disconnected plot threads put a slight crimp in an otherwise solid film.
Brooklyn’s Finest succeeds in its main objective of getting inside the heads of its characters. Sal, Eddie, and Tango each face unique challenges that push them to the brink. The choices they make are believable, if not always laudable, while their capacity to make meaningful decisions makes the plot hard to predict. The film’s willingness to kill its characters only heightens the tension and gives impact to its moral conflicts.
However, Brooklyn’s Finest misses the opportunity to weave its three stories into a cohesive whole. The stories are tonally similar, and the movie does a good job of synchronizing their action, but the actual interplay between them is minimal. Even when the stories do briefly cross paths, they carry on separately. The separation of the plot threads doesn’t hurt them individually, but it does keep them taking advantage of each other’s developments.
Watch Brooklyn’s Finest when you’re in the mood for a crime drama that skews on the dark side. The movie’s moral questions make it a weightier watch than the typical crime drama, while three decent stories and a trio of capable leads let it make good on its premise. But in spite of the movie’s promise, the script isn’t quite clever enough to make the most of what it has, making it a solid watch but not a brilliant one.
For a gritty crime drama about dirty cops from the same director, try Training Day. For a workmanlike tale of police corruption, try Dark Blue. For an action thriller about a jaded cop taking on his corrupt department, try 16 Blocks. For a crime movie with a more elaborate, interconnected plot, try Triple 9. For a sharper thriller about undercover work and betrayal, try The Departed or Infernal Affairs.
6.7 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 for interesting conflicts and solid execution.