At the Movies

by Esther McCarthy

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BROOKLYN COP DRAMA SAVED BY SUPER CAST

BROOKLYN'S FINEST (18) starstarstar

THE STARS: Ethan Hawke, Don Cheadle, Wesley Snipes, Richard Gere.

THE STORY: Set around a one-week period in the NYPD, the lives of three police officers are drastically transformed when corruption within the force rears its head during a massive undercover drugs operation.

DIVIDED LOYALTIES: Drug lord Wesley Snipes and undercover cop Don CheadleHE GRABBED our attention with the excellent Training Day, a drama about cop corruption that picked up several awards.

Now director Antoine Faqua returns to the subject of the boys in blue in this somewhat patchier affair.

The story centres on three different characters. Eddie (a nicely understated Richard Gere) is a burnt-out veteran cop who's dreaming of his retirement which is just a week away. He has developed feelings for a call girl he's sleeping with and is looking forward to skipping town for good. Meanwhile, narcotics officer Sal (Hawke) is approaching meltdown as he struggles to raise the money to provide a new home for his pregnant wife and kids.

Faced with wads of drugs money every day, he faces massive temptation to pocket the cash, much to the concern of his colleague (Irish actor Brian F O'Byrne).

Clarence (Cheadle) is frustrated with his job too. He's been working undercover for much longer than he's wanted and his requests for a transfer are ignored as his superiors are content to let him work effectively in the wilderness. This attitude has lead to divided loyalties for Clarence as he's formed a close bond with notorious drug dealer Caz (Snipes) who completely trusts him.

As their paths gradually cross, we learn of the personal and work pressures the men face as they struggle to keep the force's integrity alive. It's a credit to the cast that the movie works very well as a character study but as a movie, there are just too many cop
clichés to be found here.

Running at well over two hours, the film's pace suffers as a result, building to a violent but unconvincing finale.

The film also suffers from a lack of subtlety, the biggest casualty of which is Hawke.

THE VERDICT: It all feels a tad contrived and is not nearly as smart as it seems to think it is. But for all its flaws and sluggish plot, the movie's made watchable by an on-form cast.

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