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Written by: Edwin Torres (book), Sidney Lumet (screenplay), Alan Smithee (screenplay on television prints)
Directed by: Sidney Lumet (Alan Smithee: television prints)
Starring: Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Armand Assante, Luis Guzmán, Charles S. Dutton, Jenny Lumet
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
Dirty cop, Mike Brennan thinks he got away with murder, but during a routine Q&A the righteous assistant DA finds a clue that sets them both on a collision course.
Verdict
Other than Nolte playing a huge jerk of a cop, this isn't intriguing. This starts out as a corrupt cop and becomes a wider conspiracy, but the connections between the characters feel forced. The revelations this movie hopes will shock you instead strain credibility. My interest began faltered half way in, and it never recovered.
Skip it.
Review
Lumet was unhappy with the television release, changing his name to Alan Smithee for that cut.
This question in this movie isn't whether Mike Brennan (Nick Nolte) is a dirty cop. The question is whether Deupty DA Al Reilly (Timothy Hutton) can put together enough clues to prove it. Brennan kills a guy and then coaches witnesses on what they saw. It's a blatant disregard of the law, but then we see how everyone likes Brennan and we're told he's a 'real cop.'
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| Nick Nolte plays Mike Brennan |
Reilly is assigned to get a statement, and this has already established that Brennan likes to tell a good story. During the Q&A he has a captive audience. Reilly is told this is all to check the boxes and clear Brennan, but Reilly has doubts about the story.
That's basically it for this movie. Nolte is great as a real jerk of a guy, but the rest of this movie is all conspiracies and coverups. None of it is very clever or intriguing. Everyone is linked, often inexplicably so. Reilly's ex just happens to be dating a drug dealer that's part of this investigation. Reilly attempts to rekindle that romance for no real reason than to pad the run time of the movie.
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| Timothy Hutton, Nick Nolte, Charles S. Dutton play Al Reilly, Mike Brennan, Sam Chapman |
It's clear Brennan is angling to get this to go away. He claims everyone is out to get him, but that might be for good reason. This starts off as a tale of a corrupt cop, but gets much bigger. While there is a larger element at play, too much of this movie feels scripted in a forced way. I don't quite believe all of these improbable connections. This movie just couldn't hold my interest. Also the soundtrack is too upbeat for this movie. It really seems like a mistake.
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