“Brooklyn’s Finest” Review
March 22, 2010
Release Date: 03/05/2010
Length: 133′
Personal Rating (1-10): 6
Just take a look at the poster on the left and tell me you didn’t say “Wow!”. “Brooklyn’s Finest” brings in front of us a cast that just takes your breath away. We have Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke and Wesley Snipes, under the same roof and episodic appearances from other semi-stars like Ellen Barkin, whom you might have seen in “Ocean’s Thirteen”.
“Brooklyn’s Finest” presents the stories of three police men and a mobster all living / working in Brooklyn.
Richard Gere is Eddie, a police man who has a few days left until retirement, washed up anti-star, alcoholic and “loving” a prostitute he is everything but a role model.
Ethan Hawke is detective Sal Procida, an officer that has money troubles and a fast growing family that he wants to take care of. Thus Sal is under the temptation of stealing the drug money he finds in his busts.
Don Cheadle is Tango, an undercover cop set out to get evidence that will put Caz (Wesley Snipes) in jail. The problem is that Caz becomes a good friend of Tango and when the gangster gets killed by a rival gang and police will not do anything to help, Tango tries to bring justice by himself.
The title “Brooklyn’s Finest” is obviously an irony as none of the heroes presented is the definition of the good guy. However, taking into account the circumstances, all of the actions taken by the characters are well motivated and are forced actions. Someone once said that “desperate situations call for desperate measures” and it seems this is the best way to describe the morale of “Brooklyn’s Finest“.
All in all the story takes to much of our time and the three cop stories that are linked together only be proximity are a bit lazy and quite frankly boring. Richard Gere wastes his talent with this role and also gives the impression that he does not care for it as well. It’s like he is transmitting: ”This script is boring but I need the money”.
Ethan Hawke pulls a decent performance and manages to express the feelings the tore Salvatore apart, the right of the law and the well being of his family.
I always liked Don Cheadle and out of all of “Brooklyn’s Finest” he has the luck of having a role that gives you a small reason to view the movie till the end. He has sort of the same dilemma as Hawke‘s character, only that instead of his real family, he has Caz who is like a brother to him.
Wesley Snipes is Wesley Snipes. Not a demanding role, but his charm makes Caz a lovely character. Unlike the cops in this movie, he has no morale issues, he knows his values and is standing up for them, even if they mean trusting Tango no matter what.
Verdict: not worth it. Reason: Boring story and to long.
Pictures downloaded from here. Trailer bellow:
