Since the first trailers for “Brooklyn’s Finest” started popping up, people have been calling it “Training Day 2.” With themes of police corruption, drug dealers, life in the projects and Ethan Hawke (“Daybreakers”), it’s understandable for people to compare Antoine Fuqua’s (“Shooter”) latest cop thriller to 2001’s “Training Day.” Despite these common themes, “Brooklyn’s Finest” is its own movie, and a fine one at that.
The film has three separate storylines focusing on three different police officers in the high-crime area of Brooklyn’s 65th precinct. Officer Eddie Dugan (Richard Gere, “Amelia”) is a burnt-out cop days from retirement. Detective Clarence “Tango” Butler (Don Cheadle, “Hotel for Dogs”) is working undercover in the Van Dyke housing projects’ drug trade. Tango is given an opportunity to get out, but only if he betrays the drug lord who once saved his life. Last is Detective Sal Procida (Hawke), who is struggling to support his growing family. When mold in his house endangers his asthmatic wife and his unborn twins, Sal begins to pocket the money left behind after drug raids.
The movie is a tad on the long side, coming in at 133 minutes, but it thankfully manages not to drag. This is thanks to the film’s three concurrent storylines, which it bounces among in a way that keeps the pace active without becoming confusing. What really make the movie are its characters, particularly the actors that play them.
There are a lot of top-caliber actors in this movie, and they deliver the performances you’d expect. Wesley Snipes makes his first appearance in a theatrical release picture since 2004’s “Blade: Trinity” as the drug dealer Caz Phillips. Fortunately, Snipes is still a capable actor, and Caz is a genuinely entertaining, likable character — at least as likable as a drug lord can be.
Cheadle gives arguably the best performance in the film. The “undercover cop trying to get out” clich? is well worn, but he’s able to pull it off convincingly, making Tango one of the film’s better-developed characters. Sometimes Tango’s anger seems slightly forced, but on the whole, Cheadle delivers a strong performance.
Gere similarly shows the ability of a veteran actor in playing the apathetic Dugan. Dugan usually just seems bored with his life and his career, and you get the feeling he’s constantly reminding himself that he only has a few days left on the job. When the action picks up, Dugan seems more annoyed than anything, and you can really see the more piteous side of his character in his conversations with the hooker he frequents. Gere’s performance is the driest in the film, but it works because that’s what the character calls for.
The inclusion of Hawke is likely what drew out a lot of the “Training Day 2” jokes, but Sal is a completely different character than Jake from “Training Day.” He seems almost like how Jake might’ve evolved if he had followed in Alonzo’s footsteps in “Training Day.” In any case, Sal’s a good, dynamic character. Throughout the film, you can see him trying to reconcile how he acts on the job with the needs of his family. This puts Sal into an interesting, if basic, moral gray area that makes it unclear whether he’s one of the film’s “good guys.”
One thing that’s kind of strange is that for most of the movie, Sal’s constantly sniffing and looking around aimlessly and bleary-eyed. It’s supposed to represent the sleep deprivation the character endures in trying to work though his financial troubles, but at times it just seems like he’s blasted on some drug.
The only real exception to an all around strong cast is Ellen Barkin (“Ocean’s Thirteen”) as Agent Smith, the woman who offers Tango his way out of the drug beat. It seems like she’s trying too hard to be severe and threatening, but Barkin’s face and her overall presence simply don’t command that kind of fear. At times she’ll purse her lips out of smug satisfaction or anger, but she ends up looking like an annoyed cat. Barkin delivers her lines well, but fails to really “fit” in the role. “Training Day” comparisons aside, “Brooklyn’s Finest” is an excellent offering by Fuqua. If you’re a fan of cop dramas and thrillers, this is a film not to miss.
4 stars out of 5.
