Brooklyn's Finest - Review

With Brooklyn's Finest, Antoine Fuqua returns to the cop-genre; returning with him is Ethan Hawke. Also coming for the ride-along is Don Cheadle, Richard Gere, and the re-emergence of Wesley Snipes to the big screen.

The film weaves three different tales of three different types of cops, each caught in a career crossroads. Don Cheadle is an undercover agent on the brink of ending his case, which has cost him his regular life as his wife is ready to divorce him, but once he sees it through, he'll be settled behind a desk. Ethan Hawke plays a loving husband and father of what seems like a dozen children with twins on the way. He needs to get his family out of their home and in to a bigger and better one, but money is the one thing he doesn't have. Richard Gere plays a self-loathing street cop on the verge of retiring from an uneventful, unimpressive, two-decade career. Wesley Snipes, back as an actor not an action star, is the boss of a drug ring that has been freed after eight years in prison, and it is up to Don Cheadle's character to end his operations.

The performances expected from actors of their caliber are great. Ethan Hawke earned an Oscar nomination working on Training Day with Fuqua, and while he will probably be overlooked he should earn another one for his performance in this film. He went the extra mile to not only act as a morally, deeply conflicted officer, but his appearance alone shows you that he is under some kind of stress, and the opening sequence (with a surprise cameo by the uber-talented Vincent D'Onofrio) lets the audience know what his limits are, only so he can continue to push them even further.

Don Cheadle seems lost at times, which is exactly what the character is. He wants to do himself and his dwindling home-life right by his actions, but he has been undercover so long, he has found himself caring too much for the one person necessary to return normality to his life, which is Wesley Snipes, who, in my opinion, didn't get enough screen-time, but that is my opinion as a fan of his work, but he can still act finely without throwing a single punch.

Richard Gere's character, the retiree, comes off as almost a coward, if not in fact a coward. He has spent his entire time on the police force wanting to just stay alive rather than serve and protect. No one really respects him because no one really knows him, except prostitute whom he sees as his only viable relationship; and once the ending draws near, anyone with a brain of healthy oxygen can tell where the story is going for all three men, which imposes a crushing blow to a film that could have been great but ends up being only good.

Antoine Fuqua brings a damaged, pot-hole gritty look to the film, once again using color sequences to stimulate the visuals and the tone of the moment. You see darkness because there are dark things happening, and the lighted segments are few and far between as they show you the tiny traces of hope that the story and its characters cling to.

Brooklyn's Finest had all the capabilities of being something special but falls just flat of it. There are performances worth seeing from everyone involved but if expectations are too high, the grade of disappointment will vary from person to person. One thing is certain though, if you do not live a life like these characters, you will be much more appreciative of it because sometimes the only silver lining is the one people see once their heart stops beating.