DVD Review: ‘Brooklyn’s Finest’ Fires Up Screen With Superb Acting

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CHICAGO – Antoine Fuqua certainly can’t be faulted for a lack of enthusiasm. His movies often skate on the edge of silliness, and occasionally dive headfirst into the wretched waters of overwrought melodrama. But for all his flaws, Fuqua never seems to be phoning it in. His tireless energy and intensity bolsters the impact of his stories, no matter how preposterous they may be.

Some of Fuqua’s films are so looney and unbelievable that many defenders have labeled them as dark comedies, including the director’s most celebrated and overrated work, “Training Day.” The most impressive thing about Fuqua’s latest effort, “Brooklyn’s Finest,” is its bold attempt to aim for flat-out realism. After the bloated spectacle of “King Arthur” and the cartoonish excess of “Shooter,” it’s rather refreshing to see a Fuqua picture so drenched in seriousness. But that’s not to say the film isn’t tremendously intense and viciously violent.

DVD Rating: 3.0/5.0

Fusing elements of “Crash” and “The Departed,” “Brooklyn’s Finest” jumps between three parallel stories that blur the line separating cop from criminal. The NYPD officers headlining this tale are all tormented souls desperately grappling with the moral quandaries they must face on a daily basis. Weary-eyed Eddie (Richard Gere) is counting down the days to his retirement, while trying to avoid looking for the crimes taking place outside his door. Sal (Ethan Hawke) is furious that his job fails to earn him the income needed to provide for his family, and finds himself tempted to steal from the drug dealers that he busts. And Tango (Don Cheadle) has been an undercover cop for so long that he’s ended up befriending the drug kingpin (Wesley Snipes) that he’s been assigned to take down. Each of these plot threads could be stretched to feature-length, albeit with a script devoid of such dramatic obviousness.

Ethan Hawke reteams with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua in the new thriller Brooklyn’s Finest.
Photo credit: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Once the basic conflict is set up for each of these characters, there’s very few places for the plot to go, except around in a circle. As the cops grow increasingly desperate, the film becomes less plausible, culminating in an awkwardly staged climax that isn’t satisfying on any level. But Fuqua succeeds in creating a number of excruciatingly taut set-pieces, and keeps audience attention rapt throughout the bulk of the picture. Yet what truly keeps the movie afloat are the sheer strength of the performances, particularly from Hawke, whose tender scenes with his family offer a poignant counterpoint to the film’s rugged action. Gere is nicely subdued, particularly when his retired cop receives the most unceremonious send-off since Audrey Hepburn in “A Nun’s Story.” There’s also some juicy bit parts for Lili Taylor, Ellen Barkin, Vincent D’Onofrio and Brian F. O’Byrne as Hawke’s good-hearted friend (Snipes is sadly underutilized).

Brooklyn’s Finest was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on July 6th, 2010. Photo credit: Anchor Bay Entertainment

“Brooklyn’s Finest” is presented in its 2.40:1 aspect ratio, and includes a director commentary that effectively illustrates Fuqua’s motormouth charisma that he undoubtedly brought to the set. He’s up front about the film’s symbolism, including an intriguing opening homage to the Book of Job, as well as his efforts to make the three main characters seem like one person. Fuqua also discusses at length the spiritual subtext of his films, and their moral limitations. He even compares Hawke’s behavior in a church confessional booth to that of the possessed child in “The Exorcist.” Though even he admits that his style is heavy-handed at times, it’s clear that it was Fuqua’s intention to make this film as realistic as possible. Much of it was shot on location in Brooklyn, including some sequences set at poverty-stricken housing projects. It’s especially interesting to hear Fuqua dissect the moral dilemmas that his film addresses, though his all-too-succinct analyses make the film appear even more broad and obvious in retrospect.

In one of the disc’s four mini-featurettes, Fuqua says that his film is ultimately about the “pressure police officers are under and the choices they make because of that pressure.” The most diverting tidbit to be gleaned from these puff pieces is the fact that first-time screenwriter Michael C. Martin was working as a tollbooth operator when he wrote the picture, and had to be talked into quitting his MTA job in order to collaborate on the project. Yet the best surprise on this disc are the 31 minutes of deleted scenes that add some fascinating depth to the principle characters. Both Gere and Hawke have moments in which their characters are finally able to break down and unleash their demons. Other cut sequences are less successful, including two montages where Fuqua attempts to link the various plot threads through a singular monologue (a la “Magnolia”). And there’s an alternate ending so bizarre that it makes “Training Day” seem halfway plausible.

By MATT FAGERHOLM Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com matt@hollywoodchicago.com