User Reviews

When two cops are gunned down in a tough Bronx neighbourhood of New York and a new precinct captain arrives, the pressure is on to catch the killer.

This is the kind of movie which the big studios are now too scared to make; a great, gritty, cop action drama shot on the ghetto streets of the South Bronx, which combines its social commentary with an exciting and entertaining story. Newman holds the movie together with his quiet, dignified portrayal of an average Joe with liberal tendencies who can see the good in the hellhole he lives in until two separate tragedies hit too close to home. The rest of the cast are great too - Wahl is likeably goofy, Ticotin is both gorgeous and terrific, Asner and Aiello are scary as the Establishment cops, and my favourite Grier gives the ultimate stoned psycho hooker performance. I love the way the script mixes traditional cop story scenes (talking down a jumper, street chases) with unexpected twists and shocks (the opening murders are never solved, Grier and Ticotin's deaths). This movie upset a lot of people on its release, but it's an important picture - it presents the burnt-out, crime-filled New York City ghetto some people would rather ignore, but it's not judgemental and it's full of real people just trying to get by like everyone else. Featuring great location photography by John Alcott, this is my preferred alternative to all those romantic comedies set in Manhattan.

This review contains declarations that some may view as Spoilers.

Fort Apache the Bronx is the sort of unique and rare film that succeeds in an attempt to transport the viewer to a certain time and place. Presenting a story that needs neither resolution nor explanation, Daniel Petrie and Heywood Gould invite viewers to indulge in the life of a Bronx neighborhood on the verge of spiraling further out of control. From dilapidated settings to gritty characters, the film paints a realistic picture and one cannot help but feel how much of an adventure it must have been to walk through the Bronx of the late 70s and early 80s. The filmmakers succeed in bringing that time and place to viewers everywhere and forever.

If for no other reason, watch this film to take in yet another of Paul Newman's organic performances. He demonstrates an incredible range as an actor in his portrayal of Murphy, a downtrodden and half-jaded divorcé police officer who remains apathetically at a loss for solutions to the community's (and its precinct's) problems. Enjoy this emotional pendulum of a film.

6/10

The inestimable Paul Newman gives one of his finest, most powerful and convincing performances to date in this shamefully neglected and under-appreciated police crime drama doozy as the weary and sardonic, but still honest, adamant and dedicated Officer Murphy, who works a tough and hellish beat in a down-trodden South Bronx neighborhood. Murphy's seamy and exacting routine includes trying to find the killer of two rookie cops, nabbing a purse snatcher, stopping suicidal transvestites from jumping off buildings, and delivering babies in rundown tenement projects. Daniel Petrie's taut, astute, unshowy direction, working from an episodic, but sharp, colorful and eventful script by Heywood Gould (who also co-wrote "Rolling Thunder"), expertly creates a credibly bleak and sordid atmosphere while adeptly keeping the busy narrative on a steady and absorbing course from startling start to thrilling finish. The uniformly sterling acting from an exceptional cast qualifies as another considerable asset, with especially praiseworthy work by Ken Wahl of TV's "Wiseguy" fame as Newman's likable eager beaver partner, Ed Asner as the gruff, no-nonsense new police captain, Rachel Ticotin as Newman's younger heroin addict nurse girlfriend, Danny Aiello as a cynical racist patrolman, Miguel ("Short Eyes") Pinero as a smooth drug dealer, Kathleen Beller as Wahl's sweet fiancé, Sully Buyar as the burnt-out, ineffectual old retiring captain, and, most impressive of all, an unforgettably scary and pathetic Pam Grier as a zonked-out murderous junkie whore. John Alcott's grainy, yet polished cinematography and Jonathan Tunick's earthy, funky score further enhance the overall rough, gritty and totally unglamorous urban realism. A very gripping and hard-hitting little gem that's wholly undeserving of its current sadly obscure status.

Paul Newman is an Irish cop with eighteen years on the force and Ken Wahl is his younger Italian partner and sidekick. Newman is kind of philosophical about the rotting neighborhood of the 41st Precinct in the Bronx. There must be people who are only trying to survive but, as usual, the police don't have much to do with them and must deal with the raggedy and treacherous hoi polloi.

There's the sour taste of exploitation about this movie. That it's designed to shock us by showing us the lunatic asylum that the South Bronx was in 1980 (and it really WAS) is apparent in the opening scene, in which two rookie police officers are shot to death in their car, and the bodies are ransacked and robbed by local teen agers. In quick succession there follows a foot race, a car pursuit, and a crazed cross-dresser threatening to jump off a roof unless he's interviewed by a famous newscaster.

We also get to see another disheveled bum threatening a dozen people with a knife. The way Newman disarms him is by turning his cap backwards, making funny face and gloopy chipmunk-like noises, and approaching him while doing a spastic dance, until he can gently remove the knife from the hypnotized guy's hand. After the chaos and killing we've been witness to, it's an embarrassment because it's just silly and unbelievable.

Ken Wahl, as Newman's partner in anti-crime, looks a great deal like Chris Noth of "Law and Order." He plays the same role and even wears the same leather coat. In fact I believe they are one and the same person. No? Let me ask you, have you ever seen both of them in the same room at the same time? I thought not.

When a role engages Newman he can really deliver, as he did in "The Hustler." When it doesn't, we get "Torn Curtain." Here, he gets to go from cheerful and ironic to brooding but with few ornate moments. He does squeeze in a few seconds of believability with his girl friend on a park bench, and again when he performs the requisite ritual of turning in his shield.

The film features two beautiful and alluring women. Pam Grier, out of her mind and half out of her bodice, has a hair-raising scene as a deranged killer who kneels before one of her victims -- who cooperates willingly -- and goes into this slurred riff about, "Have you ever seen a snake in the woods?", before letting the pink tip of her tongue slither out from between her lips. And Rachel Ticotin, with her throaty intonations and black-lashed eyes, is the essence of femininity.

Nobody can save the film though from mediocrity. Harold Gould, the writer, has produced a screenplay that seems to have no idea of where it's going. Ed Asner is the new police chief who is determined to run the precinct by the book. Is he a paragon of rectitude or is he a moron? Is he something in between? When he's introduced, we don't know, nor do we know at the end. And when the police station is surrounded by an angry neighborhood activist group armed with baseball bats and throwing garbage at the thin blue line, why is Newman at the window, happily egging them on by shouting, "Free the Brothers!", a cry that the crowd takes up. What the hell does he think he's doing? The director, Daniel Petrie, does nothing to help. Lots of pointed shots of falling buildings and piles of garbage, as if we needed it spelled out. The locker room banter has no wit or sparkle yet everyone is laughing out loud. Entire scenes seem forced and overdone.

It's too bad because the milieu is an interesting one. Many of the elderly residents, mostly white, were justifiably afraid to leave their apartments. The 1970s and 1980s were hard times in the cities. White flight to the suburbs had depleted their tax base. New York was close to bankruptcy. And the baby boomers of all races and ethnic origins were at an age when the crime rate was highest. I disagree with almost every one of Tom Wolfe's values but no one can fault him when it comes to reportage. For a realistic glimpse of life in the Bronx in that period, go to Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities."

Being a police officer is one of the hardest jobs one can do. An occupation that routinely demands excessive amounts of patience, diligence, and cool headed-ness the consequences are often disastrous when it's done poorly. Fort Apace the Bronx explores the intricacies, culture, and most importantly people of law enforcement in their daily trials and tribulations, especially in an environment as crime ridden as this one. During the 1970s New York was hit with a massive spike in crime and urban decay, mirroring that of many other major U.S. cities at the time. But as the rest of the city cleaned up its streets, the South Bronx remained pretty much the same. John Joseph Vincent Murphy (Paul Newman) is a veteran NYPD police officer serving in just such a district. Devoted, under-appreciated, and hard working yet rebellious, hard drinking and lonely, Murphy develops a bond with his partner Andrew Corelli (Ken Wahl) a rookie cop. In spite of (or perhaps because of) his unconventional and unorthodox methods Murphy is the best cop in the precinct, in the same vain as Dirty Harry and The French Connection (both of which Fort Apache the Bronx likely took cues from). In addition to being in the middle of the most crime ridden, most unemployed, and most decayed part of New York the precinct has to deal with the arrival of Captain Dennis Connolly (Edward Asner) a hard nosed tough guy employing a brutish approach to a situation that desperately needs care and delicacy. Complicating the situation further is Murphy's romantic relationship with Isabella (Rachel Ticotin) a younger Puerto Rican nurse with a secret drug addiction. It's more a study of under pressure police work than some of the other crime movies from the time and as far as that goes it's pretty good. Though the story, while entertaining, could get pretty jumbled and unfocused. Overall an okay movie with Newman's acting being a key strength.