I, who know nothing, am sitting there watching these events unfold after having missed the first couple of minutes, including the credits. It begins with a horrific shoot out involving a black drug dealer and an absolute horde of confused NYPD cops milling around and shouting at each other. A couple of cops are dead, another wounded. The drug dealer disguises himself as a cop, coolly enters one of the squad cars and drives away.
Later he surrenders himself under the legal guidance of Richard Dreyfuss. As soon as Dreyfuss and the black dealer show up, the cops go ape, bust the windows of the car, and beat the crap out of the dealer as they drag him away like a lynch mob gone wild.
Newbie District Attorney, Andy Garcia, wins the case against the dealer, who is sentenced to life without parole. Garcia's father was the old cop wounded in the shoot out, and it's partly because of Garcia's status as victim that he wins the case and the office.
He's an idealist, always a bad sign. And when he begins to look into the context in which the shoot out occurred -- the dealer trying to save himself from crooked cops out to kill him -- the trail is long and winding and eventually the cool arms of the law begin to enfold his own father.
By this time, I'm thinking, "By Gad, this is Sidney Lumet territory!" Not just because of the subject -- police corruption and torn allegiances on the streets of New York -- but because of the detached style in which this dramatic material is handled.
It was, of course, directed by Sidney Lumet, who has an indisputable feel for this sort of stuff. (Makes one wonder about his childhood.) I think, at times, he let's Garcia's quest for perfection get a little out of hand though. Garcia is best at projecting stifled intensity, what with his fevered eyes and unblinking stare, but Lumet may have him shouting when he should be glaring. But that doesn't happen often. Garcia is a likable and thoroughly competent actor and the role suits him. Well, as long as I'm carping, let me add that the name of Garcia's cop shouldn't have been Sean Casey. It should have been Juan Cansino. And men don't embrace or kiss cheeks in Irish families either.
Both Ian Holm and James Gandolfini do quite well in their roles. The latter is an affable cop who cheerfully admits to perjury but, when faced with serious charges, blows himself away after sensibly getting skunked. Ian Holm is really surprising in his range. I mean, the guy is a Limey and still entirely believable as an aging New York cop. Some of the touches he brings to the role are so subtle as to go almost unnoticed. (Eg., when he learns by phone of the suicide of Gandolfini, who was his partner, his elbow slips off his knee an inch or so.) He was even convincing as a treacherous robot in "Alien." I don't know if this production is up there with "Serpico", "Prince of the City", or "Q & A". The script for that last flick is probably the weakest. But, in any case, trying to rank order movies is a hopeless task, each film being made up of its own unique dimensions -- casting, photography, score, performances, locations, and so forth.
Still, Lumet's series on cops in New York is so much better than the typical kind of Manichean garbage on today's screens -- one impeccable hero against an army of venomous villains, not one of whom even has a stamp collection, just money, power, broads, and evil intent. In Lumet's work, the protagonist finds himself in all kinds of unanticipated morally gray areas. It challenges you. It asks, "What would YOU do under these circumstances?" I can understand why it might generate unease in some viewers.
Later he surrenders himself under the legal guidance of Richard Dreyfuss. As soon as Dreyfuss and the black dealer show up, the cops go ape, bust the windows of the car, and beat the crap out of the dealer as they drag him away like a lynch mob gone wild.
Newbie District Attorney, Andy Garcia, wins the case against the dealer, who is sentenced to life without parole. Garcia's father was the old cop wounded in the shoot out, and it's partly because of Garcia's status as victim that he wins the case and the office.
He's an idealist, always a bad sign. And when he begins to look into the context in which the shoot out occurred -- the dealer trying to save himself from crooked cops out to kill him -- the trail is long and winding and eventually the cool arms of the law begin to enfold his own father.
By this time, I'm thinking, "By Gad, this is Sidney Lumet territory!" Not just because of the subject -- police corruption and torn allegiances on the streets of New York -- but because of the detached style in which this dramatic material is handled.
It was, of course, directed by Sidney Lumet, who has an indisputable feel for this sort of stuff. (Makes one wonder about his childhood.) I think, at times, he let's Garcia's quest for perfection get a little out of hand though. Garcia is best at projecting stifled intensity, what with his fevered eyes and unblinking stare, but Lumet may have him shouting when he should be glaring. But that doesn't happen often. Garcia is a likable and thoroughly competent actor and the role suits him. Well, as long as I'm carping, let me add that the name of Garcia's cop shouldn't have been Sean Casey. It should have been Juan Cansino. And men don't embrace or kiss cheeks in Irish families either.
Both Ian Holm and James Gandolfini do quite well in their roles. The latter is an affable cop who cheerfully admits to perjury but, when faced with serious charges, blows himself away after sensibly getting skunked. Ian Holm is really surprising in his range. I mean, the guy is a Limey and still entirely believable as an aging New York cop. Some of the touches he brings to the role are so subtle as to go almost unnoticed. (Eg., when he learns by phone of the suicide of Gandolfini, who was his partner, his elbow slips off his knee an inch or so.) He was even convincing as a treacherous robot in "Alien." I don't know if this production is up there with "Serpico", "Prince of the City", or "Q & A". The script for that last flick is probably the weakest. But, in any case, trying to rank order movies is a hopeless task, each film being made up of its own unique dimensions -- casting, photography, score, performances, locations, and so forth.
Still, Lumet's series on cops in New York is so much better than the typical kind of Manichean garbage on today's screens -- one impeccable hero against an army of venomous villains, not one of whom even has a stamp collection, just money, power, broads, and evil intent. In Lumet's work, the protagonist finds himself in all kinds of unanticipated morally gray areas. It challenges you. It asks, "What would YOU do under these circumstances?" I can understand why it might generate unease in some viewers.