The Rookie (1990)

Clint Eastwood plays a veteran detective who gets stuck with a rookie cop (Charlie Sheen) to chase down a German crook (Raul Julia.)

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

Boaz Yakin, Scott Spiegel

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Charlie Sheen, Raul Julia

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clint Eastwood	...	Nick Pulovski
Charlie Sheen	...	David Ackerman
Raul Julia	...	Strom
Sônia Braga	...	Liesl (as Sonia Braga)
Tom Skerritt	...	Eugene Ackerman
Lara Flynn Boyle	...	Sarah
Pepe Serna	...	Lt. Raymond Garcia
Marco Rodríguez	...	Loco Martinez
Pete Randall	...	Cruz
Donna Mitchell	...	Laura Ackerman
Xander Berkeley	...	Ken Blackwell
Tony Plana	...	Morales
David Sherrill	...	Max
Hal Williams	...	Powell
Lloyd Nelson	...	Freeway Motorist

Storyline

Nick Pulovski is a cop, who is presently assigned to the auto theft division and who for the most part of his career has not done anything worthwhile. But when he discovers that a man named Strom is the brains behind a major car theft and chop shop ring, he sees this as his opportunity to do something. After his partner is killed, the case is then transfered to homicide, so he is taken off the case. And he is assigned a new partner, David Ackerman. a cop who has just recently been promoted to detective. But Pulovski feeling as if Strom is his decides to continue pursuing him but Ackerman who tries to play by the rules is not sure what to do, and he is also a little afraid cause of a childhood incident.

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Plot Keywords:

explosion | woman on top | baggage carousel | pitbull | rottweiler | 

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Taglines:

What could a veteran and a rookie cop do this Christmas.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 December 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

El principiante

Filming Locations:

Highland Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,510,056, 9 December 1990, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$21,633,874

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.,Malpaso Productions,Kazanjian/Siebert Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints) (4 channels)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was to be directed by Craig R. Baxley starring Matthew Modine and Gene Hackman in 1988 but the production was stopped by the Screen Actors Guild strike.

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Goofs

During a chase, the same highway exit sign can be seen multiple times.

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Quotes

David Ackerman: [after asking his father for 2 million dollars to save Nick] Look! I didn't come here because you're my father... I came her because you're the richest person I know!

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Alternate Versions

The Australian television version was inconsistently edited for sexual and violent content. The scene between Liesl and Pulovski ends after she explains the purpose of the bullet she wears, yet the full sequence is shown on the video screen later when Ackerman rescues Pulovski. All sequences of 'three bullet death', such as Sarah killing Loco and the "Amateur" shootings of Ackerman and Liesl are reduced to one bullet. The final shooting of Strom is heard but not shown.

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Connections

Features Tarantula (1955)

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Soundtracks

All The Things You Are
Written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II

User Reviews

Not Too Bad

I stared at this movie on the shelf for about 4 weeks before I finally took a chance with it.

Clint Eastwood who directed and starred in The Rookie, plays a cop who looses his partner one night on a bust. Eastwood, swearing revenge, goes after the killers. The next day, he is immediately partnered up with a young and upcoming rookie (Charlie Sheen) and together the two set out to find the killers. The killers, a sneaky group of car thieves, is headed by the late Raul Julia, who plays his role exceptionally well.

Now the title of the film and the name of the director can be very misleading. The Rookie can lead you to expect something different from it, but it turns out to be typical buddy stuff. I think that Raul Julia is totally miscast as a the villain. It is kind of hard to imagine him as a German.

Is The Rookie all bad? Naw. There are quite a few good and funny action scenes. The funniest being Charlie Sheen's second venture into a biker bar. Seeing him constantly yell, "Come on, Motherf**kers, come on!" is absolutely hilarious. Also, the scene where Charlie Sheen drives his motorcycle through the front door of his house to save his girlfriend from one of the bad guys is pretty good too.

6/10