Antoine Fuqua is a director with a heavy hand.  His messages are delivered with all the force of a brick through a plate glass (Apologies to Q).  Mick Jagger perhaps summed up his latest endeavor, BROOKLYN’S FINEST, when he sang:

            “Every cop is a criminal,

                        And all the sinners’ saints.”

In a nutshell, that’s the plot and it continues a trend Fuqua has carried through most of his films.

He started with THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS, still probably his best.  This film introduced Chow Yun Fat to American audiences and started Marky Mark on a path toward action/adventure movies.  Cops on the take and ethnic prejudices set the mark and were augmented by the time he delivered TRAINING DAY with Ethan Hawke and Denzel Washington.  It, too, was a gritty tale that, unfortunately lost its way by the final reel.  This time around, the stereotypes have ballooned to cinematic fullness.  The black culture is depicted with such clarity it’s a wonder anyone would ever want to adopt it, much to the chagrin of the programmers at MTV whose secret mission it is to turn everyone, or at least every young white girl, into wannabes.   Word.

With BROOKLYN’S FINEST Fuqua states the heroism of the Baby Boomer Generation, lays the smack down on the black street culture, while decrying the indecision and lack of moral compass of Generation X.  The Baby Boomers are represented by Richard Gere, as Eddie Dugan.  He has one week until retirement and wants to quietly put in his time and slip out the back door.  His plans go awry when he is put into a new and controversial training system.  Generation X is embodied in Ethan Hawke’s portrayal of Sal Procida..  Sal is in a quandary over the love of his job, its lack of compensation, and his inability to provide for his growing family.  Don Cheadle, an Outtakes favorite, and Wesley Snipes, who for the past six years has been relegated to straight to video action yarns, represent the higher echelon of the black street culture.  Rounding out the all-star cast are Will Patton, Lili Taylor and Ellen Barkin.

KEY SCENES TO LOOK FOR:

1. THE MEETING AT JOEY’S

2. THE CLIMAX MONTAGE.

Director of Photography Pat Murgua is making his first big foray into American cinema.  For the most part he attempts to capture the gloomy New York style, but like most of his contemporaries, too many scenes simply slip into a green filtered wash rendering a ‘cheap’ look. Editor Barb Tulliver stretches some segments too long.  That’s not too surprising since most of her work has been with David Mamet, who reveals in extended scenes.  As the stories of the three main police officers come to conclusion, she edits them simply, but effectively.  Still, a little glossier transition, like the ones used on BURN NOTICE, would have been interesting in this sequence.

From the opening scene of BROOKLYN’S FINEST, you know there is no way this film can have a happy ending.  Fuqua’s concluding reels are tighter, and certainly more believable.  He needs, however, to back off the heavy-handed depictions a tad, though.  I mean, no one really believes that every cop is a criminal and all the sinners are saints.  It’s just the stuff of lyrics.  Unless, of course, you work in the Obama Administration.

THE RATING FOR BROOKLYN’S FINEST = C

BFCA RATING = 6/10