Three cops from the same precinct struggle with life on the force. With Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke. Director: Antoine Fuqua (2:13). R: Violence, sexuality, language. At area theaters.
Badges are everywhere in the movies, but we don't need more stinking badges - we need more police dramas done right. The bravest ones let us in on certain truths about the profession even when they're unpleasant, and "Brooklyn's Finest" can stand proudly among them.
Director Antoine Fuqua's film about a week in the lives of three cops from one tough New York precinct can be overly moody and circles its final act for too long. Yet it also has an unexpectedly epic emotional sweep and a trio of great performances to anchor it.
The 65th Precinct is in the midst of sweeping drug busts, and narcotics officer Sal Procida (Ethan Hawke) has decided to use them to his advantage. Trying to support his large family on a meager salary, and with twins due and his wife's (Lili Taylor) health affected by their decaying house, Sal is looking to lift cash from crime scenes to boost himself out of his predicament.
Meanwhile, Clarence (Tango) Butler (Don Cheadle) is deep undercover with a drug kingpin (a strong Wesley Snipes) and hungry for a promised promotion to detective. And burnt-out beat cop Eddie Dugan (Richard Gere), with a week left until he retires, is assigned to shepherd new recruits, but Eddie's history of unexceptional service and laundry list of personal problems make him the wrong guy for the job.
As Michael C. Martin's solid but almost too-tidy script follows the three protagonists - they never actually cross paths until the fateful conclusion - the multilayered approach clicks in, charged with adrenaline and laced with disillusion. There's a heavy dose of '70s-style defeatism here, but that's preferable to slam-bang action-movie clichés. And the gunplay and shootouts feel organic; Fuqua's grasp on it all is as tight here as in his 2001 drama "Training Day," which earned Denzel Washington an Oscar. The burdens facing these working-class characters aren't given a gloss, making them far more gripping.
Gere and Cheadle bring two kinds of world-weariness to their roles, with the former showing that he's best when working in the lower registers, out of his comfort zone of charming romantic hero. But Hawke - continuing an evolution toward stronger, more intense acting than anyone might've predicted from him 20 years ago - drives the movie. He makes Sal a jangled, edgy presence, his conscience torn several ways, and as with the best moments in "Brooklyn's Finest," you can see in his face the constant threat of life-or-death situations - of every stripe - reaching breaking point.
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