Brooklyn's Finest
by Antoine Fuqua
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DVD details
Actor: Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere, Wesley SnipesDirector: Antoine Fuqua
Brand: ABE
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 132 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2010-07-06
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Model: OV21401
Studio: Overture Films/Anchor Bay Entertainment
Product features:
- BROOKLYN'S FINEST (DVD MOVIE)
DVD Reviews of Brooklyn's Finest
DVD Review: Three oft-told stories juxtaposed, heading to disaster
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Often DVD bonus features convince me that the movie was better than I thought. Because "Brooklyn's Finest" (2009) runs 132 minutes, I did not have enough time to watch it first and watched the bonus feature interviews. They did not contain spoilers and made clear the intents of first-time writer Michael C. Martin (who was an MTA toll collector before his screenplay finished second in a competition), director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), and the four lead actors. In addition to having Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, and Ethan Hawke as policemen at the ends of their tethers (and beyond) and Wesley Snipes and Michael K. Williams (The Wire) as gangastas, there are cameos by Ellen Barkin, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Lili Taylor.
In the manner of the "Three Colors Trilogy," neither Gere nor Hawke is in the same frame with Cheadle and Snipes more than very briefly. Gere, Hawke, and Cheadle all play Brooklyn policemen, but each in his own story. In intercutting distinct stories, "Brooklyn's Finest" is reminiscent of "The Wire,' and compared to it, 132 minutes is short!. They are similarly urban, gritty, and profane. "Brooklyn's Finest" has more (female) nudity, but otherwise looks quite like an HBO melodrama shot on location.
None of the three stories or those of subsidiary characters is original. Richard Gere's Eddie as a beat cop a week away from his retirement and pension, trying to teach a hotheaded newcomer (actually, two, neither as flamboyant as Sean Penn) to let some things pass brings Robert Duvall in "Colors" to mind, though Gere is less folksy. (Add a large dollop of "Pretty Woman" from Gere's resumé.) Cheadle's Tango is under deep cover, with loyalties confused in relation to a drug lord who saved his life (Snipes) is reprising a storyline from the "Infernal Affairs" trilogy, Americanized as "The Departed," and other tales of undercover operatives. And Snipes has been a drug lord before (New Jack City).
As a father of three (or more) whose wife Angela (Lili Taylor in harried but sweet mode) is pregnant with twins and whose asthma is worsened by mold in the walls of their house... which means desperate to move, narcotics detective Sal (Hawke) becomes a cop appropriated drug money for himself. In confession, he wishes for God's protection rather than forgiveness. Throughout the movie, he agonizes about crossing the line, which puzzles me in that he commits first-degree murder in the first scene. He is not just a "dirty cop," but also a murderer (I won't specify how many times). Not as cynical as either "Bad Lieutenant" and not addicted to drugs, and more distraught, but it's for the family, you know?
In addition to the interview-centered bonus features, there are a lot of deleted scenes (about half an hour in total), a trailer, and trailers for four other movies, none of which made me want to see the movies. "Boyz n the Real Hood," which is about shooting on location in dicey Brownsville, Brooklyn locations, is especially interesting.
I'd rate the movie 3-3.5.5 stars, but the bonus features easily round up a rating of the package to 4. (I have not listened to the commentary track.) The locations and cast are outstanding, the juxtaposition of stories is well done. Ethan Hawke is very different here than in "Training Day," suppressing his usual charm and occasional innocence. I think that Martin meant his character to be more sympathetic than I found it. Gere is very good at burned-out yet a defender of the weak. Is Cheadle ever not good? Snipes has been not good in recent years, but has two moments of great screen acting (with the face, not with dialogue or movement) herein.
Description of Brooklyn's Finest
Something of a genre homecoming, Antoine Fuqua's latest film once again finds him delving into the gritty, brutal realm of cops and crooks?as he did in Training Day. Tango is an undercover officer on a narcotics detail that forces him to choose between duty and friendship. Having been to hell and back, he wants out, but the powers that be won't let him quit. Family-man Sal is a detective tempted by greed and corruption. He can barely make ends meet, and now his wife has an illness that threatens the life of their unborn twins. Eddie is nearing retirement age and has long since lost his dedication to his job as a cop. He wakes up every morning trying to come up with a reason to go on living...and he can't think of one. Fate brings the three men to the same Brooklyn housing project as each takes the law into his own hands. Crosscutting between multiple subplots, Brooklyn's Finest unfolds violently and passionately as coiled, constantly roving cinematography contributes a measure of unease to the underworld action.Bestsellers in DVD
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