Pride and Glory

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Inexplicably delayed by New Line before they folded into Warner Bros., Pride and Glory finally gets a release after innumerable delays enraged both its cast and its director. While the subject matter here is hardly original, director Gavin O'Connor and co-scripter Joe Carnahan (the brilliant Narc) manage to squeeze every last ounce of authenticity from a well-worn genre. Centering around a family of cops, it takes just as much time looking at these guys' home lives as it does their jobs, and what ultimately pushes them to the brink - with character development a refreshing major priority. When Chief Tierney (Voight) asks his son Ray (Norton) to head up an investigation relating to the messy demise of four of his officers, he finds disturbing evidence of a long and fat trail of corruption that heavily involves his brother-in-law Jimmy (Farrell) and elder sibling Fran (Emmerich), the CO of Jimmy's unit. What results is an occasionally slow-moving, often brutal and always engrossing look at the effect that working as a cop can have on your family, and vice-versa. It tackles similar themes to We Own The Night, but is executed and performed with much more guile and passion; with O'Connor using the handheld camera to stirring effect right from the energetic opening (the fact that his father was part of the NYPD for many years comes as no surprise). It's also intensely acted by all concerned, with Voight giving his best performance since Ali, while both Norton and Emmerich are equally ponderous and commanding in noteworthy turns. But the real surprise here is Colin Farrell. Despite his many detractors, he's obviously made an effort to choose roles that challenge him of late, and he's excellent here. His Jimmy is a contradiction, both dangerous and frightening; but he would die for his family, and Farrell portrays his inner demons beautifully. He plays one disturbing scene in particular so well, that I applaud the person that doesn't wince and turn away from the screen. Unlike, say, Street Kings, every frame of this production feels genuine, as O'Connor's vision echoes the cop thrillers of the '70s, where you were either a good cop, or a bad cop - with little room for middle ground. And here I was, thinking that they didn't make 'em like they used to.