Brooklyn’s Finest is a three hander following an increasingly desperate for money cop (Ethan Hawke), a tired of life veteran cop on the verge of retirement (Richard Gere) and an undercover cop (Don Cheadle) who is starting to have difficulty in separating his real life from his covert role. The first thing you may think on reading the above is that there isn’t much originality character wise here, and you’d be right. It’s also stereotypes galore on the criminal front. However, all is not lost due to a combination of decent acting, fair direction and a smart screenplay. Director Antoine Fuqua has a surprisingly varied back catalogue in terms of genre, surprising only in the sense that when you hear Fuqua’s name you immediately think Training Day and not much else. Unsurprisingly though it’s this film to which Brooklyn’s Finest bares a strong resemblance, from it’s inclusion of Hawke to Fuqua’s use of blue and grey colouring. All three main parts are well acted, adding meat to the bones of their stock characters. However, how much you engage with them is another matter altogether. There aren’t many likable characters in this film and it’s heavy going at times in terms of subject matter and length. If you stay with it though, Michael C. Martin’s screenplay is a twisty little number and Fuqua does well to evenly balance all three storylines in terms of dramatic impact, if not screen time. This includes a smart scene towards the end where all three storylines briefly meet though the main characters are all oblivious of each other. Overall, this is a firm if not overly memorable entry into this type of genre, but the nagging feeling exists that if Fuqua had cropped a few scenes this would have been a much tighter package indeed.
The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
This is pretty much what you would expect from a Fuqua film, hit and miss but strong acting throughout. Rating: 7/10.
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