Q & A (1990)

Dirty cop, Mike Brennan thinks he got away with murder. But during a routine Q&A, the righteous assistant DA finds a clue that sets them both on a collision course.

Director:

Sidney Lumet (as Alan Smithee: television prints)

Writers:

Edwin Torres (book), Sidney Lumet (screenplay)

Stars:

Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Armand Assante

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nick Nolte	...	Mike Brennan
Timothy Hutton	...	Al Reilly
Armand Assante	...	Bobby Texador
Patrick O'Neal	...	Kevin Quinn
Lee Richardson	...	Leo Bloomenfeld
Luis Guzmán	...	Luis Valentin (as Luis Guzman)
Charles S. Dutton	...	Sam Chapman (as Charles Dutton)
Jenny Lumet	...	Nancy Bosch
Paul Calderon	...	Roger Montalvo
International Chrysis	...	Jose Malpica
Dominic Chianese	...	Larry Pesch (as Dominick Chianese)
Leonardo Cimino	...	Nick Petrone
Fyvush Finkel	...	Preston Pearlstein
Gustavo Brens	...	Alfonse Segal
Martin E. Brens	...	Armand Segal

Storyline

A young district attorney seeking to prove a case against a corrupt police detective encounters a former lover and her new protector, a crime boss who refuses to help him in this gritty crime film.

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Plot Keywords:

neo noir | police | district attorney | crime boss | detective | 

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Taglines:

When the questions are dangerous, the answers can be deadly.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sidney Lumet: the director was unhappy with the way this movie was edited for television so he had his name removed and replaced with the pseudonym "Alan Smithee" for the television broadcast version.

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Goofs

Chief Quinn asks ADA Reilly why he did not attend St. John's Law School. Hutton says his father didn't like the Jesuits. St. John's University is not a Jesuit institution. It is conducted by the Vincentians.

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Quotes

Leo Bloomenfeld: [telling Al Reilly about Kevin Quinn] He's a prick. He's a racist and an anti-Semite and a prick. He wants to be Tom Dewey, and he will be. He married for politics and all he can see is way clear to God knows how high up. Years ago, when we still had executions in the state, he used to volunteer as a witness. Yeah, his first murder case, uhh he was a young A.D.A. then and I'm talking years ago... The case was shaky, circumstantial and he wanted a recommended death penalty from the jury. Before ...

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Hollywood's Hidden Stars (1990)

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Soundtracks

TIP-TOE THRU' THE TULIPS WITH ME
Written by Al Dubin and Joseph A. Burke
Performed by Tiny Tim
Courtesy of Reprise Records
Warner Bros. Music
A division of Warner Bros. Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

New York Confidential

Guess the film from the following description of its characters. A young man investigating misdeeds in the police force, motivated by the memory of his father (a legendary policeman) but also by the pain of having lost the affections of a woman he loves to another player in the drama. A renegade cop, rampaging violently through the city, but revered on the force for standing up to the scum on the streets. And the renegade's boss, who protects him, partly because he himself is on old-school Irish policeman; but partly because he appreciates having his own private bag-man, especially in his dealings with organised crime. Throw in some prostitutes for a little background colour, and it sounds like a perfect description of 'L.A. Confidential'. But it also describes this tough and underrated movie made by Sidney Lumet some years before Curtis Hanson's film.

Whereas Hanson's film was stylised, and glamorised violence (provided the cause was just), Lumet has gone for a more realist approach, and his bad cop (played mesmerisingly by Nick Nolte) is completely rotten, in fact resembling Harvey Kietel's 'Bad Liutennant' in Abel Fererra's movie. The film is dated by its ghastly electronic soundtrack, and more interestingly by its portrait of New York at a time when the city was at its lowest ebb. But it's a very well assembled thriller, exploring issues of race, mixed loyalties and the meaning of good policing without flinching from a grim picture of life on the margins of law abiding society. Lumet has had a long career, but this is one of his better films, and ultimately more truthful than Hanson's stylish charade. Each are good, in their own way: why is only one so appreciated?

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

27 April 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Q & A

Filming Locations:

CBGB's - 315 Bowery, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,816,605, 29 April 1990

Gross USA:

$11,207,891

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,207,891

Company Credits

Production Co:

Regency International Pictures, Odyssey Distributors

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1