Brooklyn's Finest

On a cold, rainy, Saturday night, one of the best things to do is head to the movies. Of course, everyone else is thinking the SAME EXACT THING, so I was slightly overwhelmed by the throngs of people that were milling about the theater. That said, it's always nice to get in some spontaneous BFF time, so I'll suffer a little bit of agoraphobia for that!

After some discussion and debate, we decided to go to see Brooklyn's Finest over Shutter Island. (Apparently M had watched the latter and wanted to get those 2 hours of her life back, so I decided that that wasn't the best review to go in with.) I miss home so badly at this point that I perk up at any mention of New York, so this was definitely the better choice -- despite dramatically dark representations of the projects (where I grew up) that freaked me out a bit.

Brooklyn's Finest falls in line with many many MANY movies that bring together several story lines that collapse into each other within the last 10 minutes. If you're looking for complicated plot structure, this movie isn't for you. Each of the three story lines revolve around a cop (if you haven't figured that out already) -- a burnt out cop about to retire (Richard Gere), an undercover cop looking to get out (Don Cheadle), and a stressed out cop trying to support his family and willing to do so by any means necessary (Ethan Hawke). Come to think of it, those are pretty much the story lines. So I suppose that's that.

In terms of character development, I think more work could've and should've been done for the audience to understand what exactly drives the action -- and inaction -- of the three main characters. Richard Gere certainly did NOT live up to his potential in this movie, doing that *blink blink* he so often does to indicate *intense* thought. (As H would say, are you kidding me??) Don Cheadle didn't fare much better, offering nothing more than a stoic look throughout the entire movie. YES, cops are stoic, but where the heck was the depth?? Out of all three, Ethan Hawke gave the best performance, creating a portrait of a man under serious duress from family obligations. All I can say is that his pain was visceral. Watch for it.

What ultimately drove this movie was the intense action, which started from a shot through the head in the first five minutes and ended with several shots in the style of Gran Torino (BRILLIANT movie). Although I love dramatic action, I tend to be a sensitive and jittery sort, so I was thankful to have H asking me if I was OK every few gasps and jumps in my seat. I was also thankful to have a shoulder to turn my head into after consecutive gunshots were fired and serious blood was splattered across the scene (which happened quite frequently).

Even though this movie lacked any semblance of depth, I must admit that the action was enough to warrant the ticket purchase (though perhaps a matinee ticket would've been preferable). Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), I found the nudity a bit excessive and gratuitous, not adding all that much to the flow of the movie. Then again, what sells? Sex, drugs, and alcohol -- all of which this movie has PLENTY.

If you're looking to indulge, check it out.

http://www.brooklynsfinestthemovie.com/