Pride and Glory
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Movie Reviews of Pride and Glory
Movie Review: Pride and Glory
Summary: 4 Stars
Although somewhat predictable it had good acting and great action. Glad I bought it.Movie Review: Good Cop, Bad Cop
Summary: 3 Stars
"Pride and Glory" is an interesting if clichéd title, especially since the cop characters in the film have neither pride nor glory; they only have shame and corruption. The thing is, shame and corruption are what most cop movies are about, which is to say that "Pride and Glory" is really no better and no worse than most cop movies you've seen before. Lines like, "I will not apologize for doing what I do!" and, "Becoming a cop, the pledge we took to uphold something honest--we let it all rot from under us," and, "You got no idea what it takes to do what we do," all find their way into this film, and I can't help but feel we've heard similar lines before. Consider this year's "Righteous Kill": "Most people respect the badge," says Robert De Niro. "Everyone respects the gun." He was saying that people become cops for nothing other than respect, which to me seems like a fancy way of saying that most people have no idea what it takes to be a cop. If we're going to be told the same thing every time we see a cop movie, they're liable to get really bad.
Still, "Pride and Glory" does have some redeeming qualities, namely strong performances by Edward Norton and Colin Farrell. They play NYPD officers who find themselves at opposite ends of the law. Ray Tierney (Norton) investigates a case that ultimately points to his brother-in-law, Jimmy Egan (Farrell), being involved in a dangerous police corruption scandal. I won't describe the scandal in detail, although I will say that drug dealing is involved. The real problems come not from the discovery of the corruption, but from Ray's belief in doing what's right; if he exposes Jimmy, the Tierney legacy--overseen by his father, Francis Tierney, Sr. (Jon Voight)--could be destroyed. The same goes for the reputation of the entire NYPD, which is threatening to Francis since he believes that cops should look out for one another. As for Ray's brother, Francis Tierney, Jr. (Noah Emmerich), he knows more about the scandal than he initially lets on, which eventually forces him to choose sides.
Interwoven with this basic plot are a number of subplots, most of which focus on the main characters' personal lives. Jimmy, for example, is happily married to Francis and Ray's sister, Megan (Lake Bell). They also have two young children. Unfortunately, we don't get to know these secondary characters very well; they mostly serve as a reminder that a bad man is unfairly blessed with a good family. As far as Ray is concerned, there are vague moments with his wife, Tasha (Carmen Ejogo), hinting at the fact that they have separated and are in the process of getting a divorce. Why is never alluded to, although I guess we don't really need to know why. However, I would like to know why Ray is always compelled to leave Christmas gifts on her stoop every year. While it's obvious that he still has feelings for her, it's not so obvious why. And then there's Francis and his wife, Abby (Jennifer Ehle), who's dying of cancer. They share a couple of tender moments, although it's unclear what purpose Abby serves other than to be Francis' guiding light.
There are specific scenes in this film that are baffling. One featuring Ray interrogating a Hispanic boy no older than five; the boy witnessed a suspect escaping from a neighboring apartment complex, so Ray needs him to look at pictures and identify the suspect. The boy remembers what he saw with such clarity that I never once believed it possible. Would a five-year-old remember that the bad man escaped in a white car with four doors? And how would he have been able to see the suspect's bleeding leg and belly? I agree that children can be very observant, to recall details with such accuracy seems a little farfetched. And then there's a very uncomfortable scene in which a group of cops break into a family's apartment; in an attempt to get some answers, one of the cops (I dare not say who) threatens to burn an infant with a working iron. I recognize that the purpose of that scene was to be shocking. Nevertheless, one wonders why the filmmakers didn't consider something a little less over the top, a little less melodramatic.
But the greatest drawback of "Pride and Glory" stems from a lack of originality. There's an interesting Wikipedia.com quote from Declan Quinn, who served as the film's Director of Photography; he said that he wanted to find, "a fresh way to do a police drama where it feels real and not like something we've seen a hundred times before." Once you watch this movie, you'll realize that he--along with director/co-writer Gavin O'Connor--did not achieve that goal. "Pride and Glory" looks and feels like something we've already had to see a number of times, which is disappointing because it does make an effort to be compelling. I could tell that Norton and Farrell were doing as best they could, and I can certainly give O'Connor credit for wanting to use police corruption as a metaphor for corruption in the industrial world. The problem is that all the cop movies of the 1970s were like that, which is to say that it's no longer an effective device. Unless you're new to the cop movie genre, there's absolutely nothing new "Pride and Glory" can offer you.
Movie Review: Crooked cops have families, too!
Summary: 3 Stars
Pride and Glory / B001MZ5W3M
*Spoilers*
"Pride and Glory" is a perfect example of the fact that great actors simply cannot make a good movie in the face of a terrible script. All the actors involved are wonderful actors in general and struggle to perform well here in spite of everything else, but the end result just falls completely flat. Fundamentally, the script is so generic and bland as to feel like it was written by a committee, in some kind of experiment to see how many 'crooked cop' movies and TV shows of the last decade they could rip off.
Norton plays, of course, the burned-out, long-suffering, "honest" cop who, if he hasn't always been honest in the past, at least *regrets* his dishonesty, if only because lying under oath causes tension in his marriage. There's also a rather silly side plot about Norton being some kind of super-cop, which basically boils down to him being the only cop in the entire district who has a high-school level understanding of Spanish. This is an admittedly pretty useful skill to have in a district populated by a majority of Spanish-speaking residents, and I guess it *would* set you apart if you were the only cop willing to learn the language (the rest of the cops are all so stereotypically Irish Catholic that they can't be asked, apparently - and, yes, that is offensive) but the whole conceit feels so terribly out of date in a modern movie - knowing Spanish shouldn't be a novel super power anymore. But I digress.
Farrell plays, again of course, the angry, young, hot-tempered crooked cop - anxious to turn every situation to his financial advantage and eager to break teeth in the pursuit of power. We know Farrell is evil, you see, because he murders, beats, and (threatens to) rape his way across town to get what he wants. He threatens to burn small babies with very hot irons, but we also know he's good because after he gets the information he wants, he cuddles the aforementioned baby and shushes it (don't try this at home, by the way - the heated condensation and steam from that iron would have burned the baby long before he pulled the iron away, for crying out loud).
When Farrell's crooked dealings go awry, he manages a nice little frame-up job on Norton in the hopes that Norton will keep his mouth shut and help to bury the truth about Farrell and his dirty cops. In a bit of god-I-hope-this-isn't-like-real-life weirdness, the internal investigators give everyone a few days to collect their thoughts and get their stories straight, and then call Norton in for a white-wash investigation. Norton's too honest to lie for his crooked brother-in-law, but he's too wrapped up in some ridiculous concept of 'family honor' to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
And this is the real failing of "Pride and Glory" - all this 'family honor' conceit flat out doesn't make any sense. A lot of effort has gone into making all the characters seem noble and tragic and sympathetic, but it's bunk because blind loyalty to *your* family above all else (and everyone else's families be trampled in the process, or maybe that just applies to families with brown skin) isn't noble or tragic - it's stupid. There's really nothing inherently sacred about the guy you're sister is sleeping with and Norton's whole "I didn't do it, but I won't tell you who did" act isn't noble - it's irritating. Assuming internal investigation does their job properly, Farrell's going done anyway so the only difference is whether he does so now or later - after murdering goodness knows how many more people. And the ending that wraps the whole movie up is easily the stupidest I've ever seen in a cop movie, and that's saying something.
"Pride and Glory" isn't a terrible movie... if it was cast with a bunch of no-names, it probably wouldn't have been such a let-down. But it's a shame to see good actors put to waste in service to a ridiculously bland, generic, crummy plot.
~ Ana Mardoll
Movie Review: Enough Already!
Summary: 3 Stars
The current glut of good cop/bad cop movies has drained all the energy of future similar stories and PRIDE AND GLORY is as good example of this satiated appetite as they come. Despite some riveting performances by a group of some of our better actors - Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, Noah Emmerich and Jennifer Ehle - the very obvious committee written (Joe Carnahan, Gavin O'Connor, Gregory O'Connor and Robert Hopes) story and screenplay simply falls apart at every gross killing and murder scene. Gavin O'Connor's direction fails to propel the action in a credible manner, allowing incidental sidebars that add nothing except hole patching to the film.
The story is so overused that a synopsis is unnecessary: an Irish family of cops stumbles along the way of law and order, falling into the business of stealing and murder to cover their misdeeds, until one of the brothers has the courage to 'go straight' to make amends for his own past infractions.
One of the early distractions in viewing this film about contemporary New York crime and law enforcement foibles is a soundtrack that buries the dialogue. It is doubtful that the viewer can even follow the story without the help of English subtitles to compensate for the inaudible spoken word, but then so often the script is so weak that perhaps this is not a flaw but a benefit. This is a film for those who deeply admire the work of the main actors, but brace yourselves for a film that in the end is simply annoying. Grady Harp, January 09
Movie Review: Implausible, over the top yet entertaining
Summary: 3 Stars
"Pride and Glory" is a run-of-the-mill corrupt cop story that nevertheless proved entertaining, in part because of the excellent acting by the leads. Edward Norton is in fine form as Ray, a detective who comes from a family of cops, i.e. dad [Jon Voight], and brother, Precinct Commander Francis Tierney [Noah Emmerich], as well as brother-in-law Jimmy [Colin Farrell]. When Ray investigates the murder of four cops during a drug raid, he uncovers clues implicating his brother-in-law Jimmy, who together with a few other cops are on the take. When Jimmy realises Ray is on to him, he tries to implicate Ray in the murder of a suspect. Ray is torn between loyalty to family and upholding the cop code of 'taking care of our own' ,and exposing Jimmy and his cronies for the crooked cops they are.
"Pride and Glory" is a taut cop drama, with enough suspense and action to please most fans of the genre. The acting is excellent - especially Colin Farrell's crooked cop Jimmy, whose desperation to cover his tracks unleashes a level of brutality that appeared very credible [though holding a hot iron over a baby seemed a tad extreme to me], and Edward Norton's good cop Ray is also well done.
Yet there were quite a few implausible plot threads that annoyed me, and the climactic bar brawl scene seemed over-the-top and unnecessary, as was the street battery scene. Other than that, "Pride and Glory" did not break any new ground in the genre.