New York Policemen’s Daily Battles are the Focus

Chronicling the lives of three New York City police officers in district 65 of Brooklyn, this film is compelling, gritty and shocking. The major question of the day seems to be, “Why in the world would you ever want to be a police officer, especially one assigned to the BK Housing Area (a massive crime-ridden housing project in Brooklyn). As an officer, you’re underpaid, can get shot at any moment, and have to see drug money being spent on fancy furniture for upper police managers who make it to a desk job. 

The projects are a hot-bed for drug-related crimes. Shooting on location in the heart of the Brooklyn project, director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) wanted an authentic look and feel. I can tell you that it certainly views that way. It reminded me of the LA gang film (Colors 1989) with Robert Duvall, Sean Penn and Don Cheadle. The other film that comes to mind is the dramatic film set in the heart of New York (Serpico 1973) in which Al Pacino was nominated for an Academy Award.

We view realistic violent action scenes and the gritty world of police work. Shot on location in Brooklyn, this film comes as close as you’ll ever come to the real world of police work.

Richard Gere stars as a jaded police officer who is one week away from retirement. He has a cynical attitude and simply wants to ‘get-out’ of the job and retire to a cabin in Conn. He has no family and cohorts with a local ‘girl for hire’ as his love interest.

Ethan Hawke stars as a narcotics officer who has crossed the line and taken drug money for himself. He sees no other way as his tiny home is full of mold, his five children need more space and his wife is expecting twins.

Don Cheadle stars as an undercover police agent that wants to come back in and have a desk job as he’s starting to have mental issues with his situation and at times, has trouble remembering whose side he’s really on. His wife wants a divorce; she’s fed up as well with the circumstances. He also has a friend from the past, a big-time drug dealer named Caz, who is played by Wesley Snipes. 

The first half of this two hour film deals with each officer as they go about their daily job and deal with their personal demands. A disturbing question raised in the film is the notion that the job itself is wreaking havoc on each of the men. The daily pressure of simple survival in the gang and drug dealing environment is not as easy as one would think and it appears to have taken its toll on all three. The officers know that at any given moment, they may not dodge that bullet. A line from the film sums up the feeling: “I ain’t gotta tell you what you already know, these streets have an expiration date on them!”

The second half of the film focuses on redemption as each man begins to realize the nature of the state of affairs and decides to take matters into his own hands. The film shifts back and forth between story lines until the final big scene when all three men meet unknowingly in the BK projects.

The ending was a bit too ‘Hollywood’ for me. The chance of all three men coming together at the same moment was a little farfetched. The film is not for the squeamish, as realistic bloody situations are the norm.

Sarah Adamson © March 2010