Review: Brooklyn's Finest

There were a few times during Brooklyn's Finest that I wanted to get up and leave, but I thought, well, maybe it will get better. The problem is: it never does. The film depicts three unrelated stories involving cops on the Brooklyn beat: Eddie (Richard Gere), an alcoholic cop seven days from retirement; Sal (Ethan Hawke), a detective trying to find a way to put a down payment on a new house; and Tango (Don Cheadle), an undercover cop who is unsure where his true allegiance should lie. Frankly, this movie could have used more Cheadle and less of everybody else. His scenes with Wesley Snipes, who plays a kingpin who once saved Tango's life, are about as good as the film gets.

The movie seems to deal in general stereotyping. For instance, the women in the film are either victims or bitches -- there's no in-between. Lili Taylor, playing Sal's ailing pregnant wife, is only in about two scenes of the film, but her illness fuels his desire to find money for a new house by any means necessary. Ellen Barkin's hardass Fed seems to mainly exist for Tango to play off as she makes ridiculously racist comments (and she's only in a couple of scenes herself). There's the coke-sniffing prostitute that Eddie (Richard Gere) wants to save -- but he also wants to sleep with her. The other women serve as scenery. They don't talk, they just serve drinks (topless), iron drug money (topless), work in a strip club (topless) ... you get the idea. And strangely enough, there are scant women (I only saw one) on the police force in Brooklyn's Finest. For a drama that yearns to be gritty and "real," this seems a huge misstep.

But it's one of many. Brooklyn's Finest clocks in at 2 hours, 20 minutes long; it seems much longer than that since director Antoine Fuqua tends to stick with a long shot as if he's trying to drill an image into your head. There are too many storylines going on at the same time, often confusing the viewer. Why is Eddie so jaded (and why should I care)? Can Sal not get a loan to buy a house? Does Fuqua have something against strong women?

The amount of violence is truly gratuitous. One bloody death scene towards the end had me almost gagging in my seat. Could the general concept -- it's a hard life for cops in Brooklyn -- not have been conveyed in a less grotesque fashion? Also, an unnecessary sequence involving Richard Gere on the receiving end of an oral sex act does little to move the clunky plot forward; it just adds to the general feeling of awkwardness throughout Fuqua's movie.

Usually I'd offer up something positive about the film, but there really aren't enough redeeming qualities. Sometimes the lighting is done well, but not enough to change the film for the better. Brian F. O'Byrne, who play's Sal's best friend, commits to his role, but can't save this mess of a movie. If you want to see Richard Gere in a good crime drama, rent Primal Fear. If you want to see Don Cheadle showcase his amazing acting ability, rent Hotel Rwanda. In the end, Brooklyn's Finest wants to be better than it really is.