BROOKLYN'S FINEST

BROOKLYN'S FINEST

Antoine Fuqua did a wonderful job directing Denzel Washington to his second Oscar in 2001s "Training Day". For that matter, he did as much with Ethan Hawke in the same film, though Ethan lost to Jim Broadbent in the Supporting Actor category. And, though some disagreed, Fuqua did a nice job directing "The Shooter" with Mark Wahlberg.

But we forget that Fuqua also was responsible for "Tears of the Sun", that forgettable army flick with Bruce Willis in yet another of his forgettable roles.

"Brooklyn's Finest" falls somewhere between the two, but once again emphasizes the miscast syndrome. Once again, it is the lead actor.

Richard Gere, during the course of his career, tried his hand at various types of characters - both evil and nice - with mixed results. His best characterizations are those as the handsome dude in numerous chick flicks. It stems from his sweep-the-girl-off-her-feet role as Zack Mayo in "An Officer and a Gentleman" as well as millionaire Ed Lewis in :Pretty Woman". He perpetuated the typecast with "Run Away Bride", "Dr. T and the Women", "Unfaithful", "Nights in Rodanthe" and to a lesser degree 2002s "Chicago". Gere's strongest performances came as the quasi-gallant, lady's man.

In "Brooklyn's Finest" he is cast in the lead as Eddie, a veteran New York cop one week away from retirement. He can't wait to get out or commit suicide - whichever.

Much like Mel Gibson's Martin Riggs character, Eddie starts his day off by putting his service revolver in his mouth in a mock suicide ritual. In other words he's had enough. He has a fishing cabin waiting for him and his revolver in Connecticut. To get through this week, he'll booze it up as usual and try to work with a rookie partner.

Ethan Hawke, who has no stereotype yet, plays another cop who is, like many real life cops, in over his head in debt. He has seven kids running around a little tiny grungy home and his wife is pregnant with twins. He needs a break in a hurry. He has his sights on a bigger house with no wood mold (there is a long dissertation about the dangers of household mold on people with asthma). He is willing to do just about anything to get the money, but grabbing it of drug dealers during arrests is the quickest way.

Don Cheadle is the third and final veteran cop in the film. He is his own enigma wrapped in a mystery - he is Tango, a cop who has been undercover so long the line is blurred between his job as a cop and his allegiance to the drug dealer he is to bring down. But can he bring down someone , whom he's been with so long, he is practically a brother?

Wait a second, haven't we seen this character before? "In Too Deep", "Deep Cover", "The Departed", etc. This is nothing new, though it gives Cheadle - one of today's better character actors - plenty to study. And he does.

His target is none other than Caz played dutifully by Wesley Snipes. Snipes as a drug dealing honcho is like cookies and milk - they go together. I'm actually looking forward to the day when someone gets the bright idea to cast he and Benicio del Toro as dealer and attic. That would be gold!

Three cops in the same rough district of New York. All three desperate in their own way. All three looking for a means to an end. Two want out and one needs more money. Yeah, they all conveniently come together for one tragic moment in the same slums.

But it is Eddie whom the film focuses on the most because he has the opportunity to affect his rookie partner. And that was Fuqua's biggest mistake.

There is no screen presence for Gere's character. He is simply replaying roles performed by other actors - Robert Duvall in "Colors" comes to mind as does Tommy Lee Jones in "No Country for Old Men". But in those cases, the characters were portrayed by grittier actors. Actors who are more believable as get dirty, coulda-been-a-contender types. Gere is not.

Thrown in is Ellen Barkin who steals every scene she is in. Yet the rest of the cast can't diminish the miscasting of pretty-boy Gere. And they offer the only redeeming values for this 2-hour plus film (that had 20 minutes trimmed since it's Sundance 2009 screening.) Fuqua had trouble getting financing and distribution for "Brooklyn's Finest" maybe the rest of the world knew what he didn't. It should have been better! --GEOFFREY BURTON

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