Brooklyn's Finest (2009)

Three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location after enduring vastly different career paths.

Director:

Antoine Fuqua

Writer:

Michael C. Martin

Stars:

Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke

1 win & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Gere	...	Eddie
Don Cheadle	...	Tango
Ethan Hawke	...	Sal
Wesley Snipes	...	Caz
Will Patton	...	Lt. Bill Hobarts
Lili Taylor	...	Angela
Michael Kenneth Williams	...	Red
Brían F. O'Byrne	...	Ronny Rosario
Shannon Kane	...	Chantel
Ellen Barkin	...	Agent Smith
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Carlo
Wass Stevens	...	Det. Patrick Leary
Armando Riesco	...	Det. George Montress
Wade Allain-Marcus	...	C-Rayz (as Wade Allain Marcus)
Logan Marshall-Green	...	Melvin Panton (as Logan Marshall Green)

Storyline

In Brooklyn, amid drug deals, violence, casual racism, poverty, housing projects, and corrupt cops, we follow three officers: Tango, African-American, working undercover, believing he's earned a promotion to a desk job but told he has to set up the bust of an ex-con who saved his life; Sal, who'll commit murder to get cash; and, Eddie, the precinct's oldest beat cop, a week to go before retirement, assigned to mentor an earnest rookie. Can this end well for any of the three?

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Plot Keywords:

corrupt cop | catholic | new york city | police detective | police officer killed | 

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Taglines:

Every man has a moment of truth.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for bloody violence throughout, strong sexuality, nudity, drug content and pervasive language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The very real threat of Wesley Snipes' imminent arrest for tax evasion was hanging over the production throughout.

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Goofs

When Tango is talking to the wounded thug that he shot in the street, the thug's pants change position between shots.

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Quotes

Det. Sal Procida: Change that skirt. People are gonna start to think we're Catholic only on Sundays.

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Connections

Featured in Richard Roeper & the Movies: Brooklyn's Finest (2010)

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Soundtracks

Where's My Money
(2008)
Written by DJ Green Lantern (as James D'Agostino) and Busta Rhymes (as Trevor Smith)
Performed by DJ Green Lantern (as The Evil Genius DJ Green Lantern) featuring Busta Rhymes
Produced by DJ Green Lantern (as The Evil Genius DJ Green Lantern) for Future Green Entertainment Inc.
Courtesy of Invasion Music Group LLC
Busta Rhymes appears courtesy of Flip Mode/Universal Motown

User Reviews

Draws you in

Draws you right in from the start, builds tension to a climactic point late in the film. In the middle, you get to absorb a lot of NYC atmosphere which somewhat compensates for the formulaic nature of the film. You've seen it all before, there's no new ground, but its done in a way that will hold your interest.

Grim, adult movie themes highlight only the heavy issues that burden cops in this big city.

Cheadle, Hawke and Gere all develop very burnt-out, empty looks in their eyes that help make this film more believable than it really is. Lives have fallen apart (the personal lives of these cops). The script makes it clear that the job is rough on cop families, it makes this point almost to the point of overkill.

The women of this film are resigned to the belief that "its a man's world". They have bought this belief system almost totally. And yes I include Ellen Barkin's middle-aged super-boss-cop because she tries to be just like men in order to get to the top of this man's macho cop world/underworld environment.

Gere is subtle, very nuanced and effective in his role. Hawke is incredibly explosive in his role of a man desperately overstrung, or at least in need of a good vacation. Cheadle's mixed-up about-to-snap performance works perfectly with Snipes who gives a fine, mature, theatrical style performance. I'm ready to see more of the mature Snipes as his career progresses.

All the acting here is great and it overcomes the generally "seen it before" nature of the production. This is basically similar to Greek tragedy, so if you view it that way you won'be let down by the relentless grimness that is here from start to finish.

Entertainment value highlighted by enough tension, plus the studied pro performances rate an 8 rating from me.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 March 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Brooklyn's Finest

Filming Locations:

Avenue R & East 15th Street, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,350,299, 7 March 2010

Gross USA:

$27,163,593

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$45,719,985

Company Credits

Production Co:

Millennium Films, Thunder Road Pictures, Millennium Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1