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Brooklyn's Finest

  • 20092009
  • RR
  • 2h 12m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
64K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, Don Cheadle, and Wesley Snipes in Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
Three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location after enduring vastly different career paths.
Play trailer2:38
12 Videos
99+ Photos
  • Action
  • Crime
  • Drama

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

IMDb RATING
6.7/10
64K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Antoine Fuqua
  • Writer
    • Michael C. Martin
  • Stars
    • Richard Gere
    • Don Cheadle
    • Ethan Hawke
Top credits
  • Director
    • Antoine Fuqua
  • Writer
    • Michael C. Martin
  • Stars
    • Richard Gere
    • Don Cheadle
    • Ethan Hawke
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 165User reviews
    • 166Critic reviews
    • 43Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 10 nominations

    Videos12

    Brooklyn's Finest
    Trailer 2:38
    Brooklyn's Finest
    "You're Done" from Brooklyn's Finest
    Clip 1:03
    "You're Done" from Brooklyn's Finest
    "Let's Just Take a Ride" from Brooklyn's Finest
    Clip 0:53
    "Let's Just Take a Ride" from Brooklyn's Finest
    "It's Not What You Expect" from Brooklyn's Finest
    Clip 0:40
    "It's Not What You Expect" from Brooklyn's Finest
    "You Need a New House" from Brooklyn's Finest
    Clip 1:20
    "You Need a New House" from Brooklyn's Finest
    "Think You're a Tough Guy?" from Brooklyn's Finest
    Clip 1:04
    "Think You're a Tough Guy?" from Brooklyn's Finest
    "I'm Not a Role Model" from Brooklyn's Finest
    Clip 0:57
    "I'm Not a Role Model" from Brooklyn's Finest
    "They're Gonna Pin a Medal on You" from Brooklyn's Finest
    Clip 1:01
    "They're Gonna Pin a Medal on You" from Brooklyn's Finest
    Brooklyn's Finest
    Interview 0:33
    Brooklyn's Finest
    Brooklyn's Finest
    Interview 0:41
    Brooklyn's Finest
    Brooklyn's Finest
    Interview 0:40
    Brooklyn's Finest
    Brooklyn's Finest
    Interview 0:30
    Brooklyn's Finest

    Photos138

    Don Cheadle and Will Patton in Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
    Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes in Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
    Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes in Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
    Don Cheadle and Hassan Johnson in Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
    Richard Gere in Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
    Richard Gere in Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
    Richard Gere and Jesse Williams in Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
    Richard Gere and Jesse Williams in Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
    Ethan Hawke in Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
    Ethan Hawke in Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
    Don Cheadle in Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
    Ellen Barkin in Brooklyn's Finest (2009)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Richard Gere
    Richard Gere
    • Eddieas Eddie
    Don Cheadle
    Don Cheadle
    • Tangoas Tango
    Ethan Hawke
    Ethan Hawke
    • Salas Sal
    Wesley Snipes
    Wesley Snipes
    • Cazas Caz
    Will Patton
    Will Patton
    • Lt. Bill Hobartsas Lt. Bill Hobarts
    Lili Taylor
    Lili Taylor
    • Angelaas Angela
    Michael Kenneth Williams
    Michael Kenneth Williams
    • Redas Red
    Brían F. O'Byrne
    Brían F. O'Byrne
    • Ronny Rosarioas Ronny Rosario
    Shannon Kane
    Shannon Kane
    • Chantelas Chantel
    Ellen Barkin
    Ellen Barkin
    • Agent Smithas Agent Smith
    Vincent D'Onofrio
    Vincent D'Onofrio
    • Carloas Carlo
    Wass Stevens
    Wass Stevens
    • Det. Patrick Learyas Det. Patrick Leary
    Armando Riesco
    Armando Riesco
    • Det. George Montressas Det. George Montress
    Wade Allain-Marcus
    Wade Allain-Marcus
    • C-Rayzas C-Rayz
    • (as Wade Allain Marcus)
    Logan Marshall-Green
    Logan Marshall-Green
    • Melvin Pantonas Melvin Panton
    • (as Logan Marshall Green)
    Jesse Williams
    Jesse Williams
    • Eddie Quinlanas Eddie Quinlan
    Hassan Johnson
    Hassan Johnson
    • Beameras Beamer
    • (as Hassan Iniko Johnson)
    Jas Anderson
    • K. Rockas K. Rock
    • Director
      • Antoine Fuqua
    • Writer
      • Michael C. Martin
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    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? —<jhailey@hotmail.com>
    • corrupt cop
    • catholic
    • new york city
    • police detective
    • police officer killed
    • 112 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • This is War. This is Brooklyn.
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Crime
      • Drama
      • Thriller
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated R for bloody violence throughout, strong sexuality, nudity, drug content and pervasive language
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ellen Barkin jumped at the chance at working with Don Cheadle. Director Antoine Fuqua wasn't even sure that she took payment for the part.
    • Goofs
      The various $100 bills seen in the film are obvious props. They are all shown in closeups bearing the serial number "XYZ123456".
    • Quotes

      Gutta: Giuliani ain't clean up the city. Video games and television did. That's what cleaned up the streets. Come on, man, 'cause ya'll remember when everybody was outside. If you was two years old, if you was a hundred and two, you was outside.

    • Connections
      Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Cop Out/The Crazies/A Prophet (2010)
    • Soundtracks
      Murder
      Written and Performed by Malcolm Kirby Jr. and James H. Martin

      Courtesy of 456 Productions

    User reviews165

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    Stirring depiction of cops on the edge, this may just be Fuqua's Finest.
    Brooklyn's Finest tells three respective tales of a trio of very different people more broadly connected to the police force of New York City; three people who each alike want 'out' of their respective lives and lifestyles within the force, three people who live and operate in very different capacities therein the force, but look forward to the new ventures and pastures to follow thereafter their leaving. The film is a masterstroke of crime drama storytelling, a film whose runtime is never too long and whose sheer scale is never overwhelming; a film whose ability to balance each strand, ranging from everyday 'on-the-beat' cops to undercover narcotics agents, is close to faultless. As far as American thrillers that may or may not contain a good deal of second unit stuff go, it is a breath of fresh air; an appealing, story driven piece with any one of its three strands most likely making decent enough features on their own.

    Director Antoine Fuqua establishes the uncompromising characteristics that dominate the nature of his film's world during the opening scene, an exchange set in the confines of a parked car in the dead of night. One man speaks to another about how he was justified in recently breaking the law out of self defence. The other man, Ethan Hawke's Detective named Sal Procida, then proceeds to shoot him dead, but only for the large amount of ill-gotten money he had with him – something which will ease his financial woes made apparent out of his unhealthy wife and large family who're all living in a building unfit for them. Above anything else, it is a perfect opening to Procida's strand; a strand built on moral grey areas and he loots and kills for sake of someone else's struggles. Waking up not so far away is Richard Gere's character, he too is a police officer named Eddie Dugan; a single man who sleeps with whisky beside his bed and unloads an empty pistol into his mouth upon getting up. The man is not far from retirement and in a bad state. Finally, Don Cheadle is an undercover narcotics agent named "Tango" Butler; a man deep in the world of housing project-set, African American run drug rings whose efficiency and professionalism is epitomised in a slick, singular take as the camera glides through their interior base of operations from the quasi perspective of Cheadle himself.

    Fuqua toys with his audience in so much he allows for the least intelligent; least likable and probably most aggressive of the three, in Procida, to want what's best for other people moreover himself. In providing this character with a family, it allows for Hawke's character to occupy the screen without risk of our interest or fondness for the man waning; it allows for his story to play out without the danger of it transferring into an anonymous, bland tale of an anti-hero undeserving of his job title going through the motions. That's not to say his is the best of the three, for Butler's story about working undercover and the apparent brethren he shares with those shady delinquents, as relationships with his police superiors wane, is often shattering. Wanting away from this life of constant fear and danger, he learns the only way to do such a thing is to bring in the boss of the entire outfit: Wesley Snipes' gangster named Caz.

    The reemergence of Snipes is a curious detail, a man who himself has recently served time in prison and here plays someone who is fresh out and back amongst his kin anyway. Seeing him turn up carries with it an odd air of realism: as if akin to his character suddenly reappearing amidst his own here on set, so too is Caz the wanted man who can finally be nailed by a federal department if Butler plays it right. In this regard, the casting is a masterstroke, and it is impressive that the sudden reappearance of the actor does not soften the impact of the film up to this point nor beyond it.

    There are thoughts and writings that, in recent years, and something born out of the events of 9/11 in New York City, those more broadly orientated towards jobs in the fire department or police force often always come in for heroic depictions when featuring in American films. Some, the likes of Ladder 49 and such, have almost exclusively revolved around said folk in said roles. Jim Sheridan's 2010 remake of a Danish film entitled "Brothers" inexplicably featured a composition of a fire station façade during its opening montage, a shot you might say was designed, sub-consciously or otherwise, to implement both a sad and romanticised tone from the off. The film is not about firemen – far from it, but it's meant to induce melancholia what better way than to exploit the iconography of a fire station. If you want to see it in this particular way, you might read Fuqua's film as a piece going past all of that and cutting to the grit of the thing: a New York City-set project about those in roles depicted in less than flattering ways and living less than heroic lifestyles where previously we've witnessed otherwise. However you might see it, the film is a more than substantial effort .
    helpful•11
    3
    • johnnyboyz
    • Apr 10, 2013

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 5, 2010 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Los mejores de Brooklyn
    • Filming locations
      • Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • Millennium Films
      • Thunder Road Pictures
      • Millennium Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $17,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $27,163,593
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $13,350,299
      • Mar 7, 2010
    • Gross worldwide
      • $45,719,985
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 12 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • DTS
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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