Brooklyn's Finest

As Melissa mentioned, we recently made our second trip to Phoenix to watch Spring Training baseball. It was a wonderful trip. But of course it rained during one of the afternoon baseball games. Yep, an all-day rainstorm in the desert. Our luck, I guess. Anyway, we decided to go to a movie that afternoon because there was no baseball to watch. As is typical, the early spring movie options are less than great. We had no interest in Alice in Wonderland so the other real option was the police drama “Brooklyn’s Finest.”

There is a reason that the only good thing the commercials for Brooklyn’s Finest say is that it was directed by the director of Training Day. Training Day (2001) is a fantastic movie, and you should watch it again instead of Brooklyn’s Finest.

What’s the Deal: There are essentially three plotlines, all unrelated, and they are all as cliché as possible. The Training Day plot has been done and done (the veteran cop showing the rookie cops the ropes and what the job is “really like,” but it was still original and different. On the other hand, Brooklyn’s Finest is just super lame. First, Richard Gere’s character is the old cop who is about to retire and must show a young cop the ropes and what the job is really like. It should sound familiar. Also, he routinely “sees” a prostitute and then busts up a prostitute ring. Oooo, how ironic.

Second, Ethan Hawke is an overall good cop whose enormous family is outgrowing his tiny house, and he must start stealing dirty drug money to pay for the new one. Ooooo he’s so conflicted. Blah blah blah. It should also sound familiar.

Third, Don Cheadle is an undercover officer. He befriended Wesley Snipes while undercover in prison, and when Snipes gets out the two begin to run drugs together “just like old times.” Which side is he really on? Oooo he’s so conflicted, too. This is actually the most entertaining plot line, I thought, but that’s not saying much. But it’s still been done to death.

What I Liked: (not much)
1. The cinematography is pretty good, I guess. The cramped spaces and setting feel like a dirty, cramped Brooklyn neighborhood would feel, I suppose. So that was good.

What I didn’t like:
1. The violence. Look, I enjoy the gritty cop movie as much as anyone. Like Training Day, or The Departed, or the Untouchables, or the French Connection, or Heat, or Narc, or L.A. Confidential (especially L.A. Confidential)... But there’s a difference between gritty and just ugly. This one is just ugly. Those good movies had their fair share of violence and language, and that didn’t make them bad movies. One could say it enhanced them, in fact, because it was real (or at least it seemed real-ish. I have never been a gritty cop, so I can’t say for sure how real it is). Here, it is forced and I just didn’t buy it.

2. Along those lines, there are super extended and uncomfortable sex scenes between Richard Gere and his prostitute. Also not “gritty,” just terribly graphic and pointless.

3. The plots. As I mentioned above, they’ve just been done to death. It’s also too long and everyone in the theater was glad when it was over. Steer clear of Brooklyn’s Finest.