Pride and Glory - Review

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Length: 125 min

Rated: R

Distributor: New Line Cinema

Release Date: 2008-10-24

Starring: Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, Noah Emmerich, Jennifer Ehle, John Ortiz

Directed by Gavin O’Connor

Produced by Gregory O'Connor

Written by Joe Carnahan & Gavin O’Connor

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Reviewed by Katey Rich : 2008-10-20 11:03:20

It's pretty much impossible to make an original cop movie anymore-- even The Departed was a remake, remember?-- so any drama about the boys in blue has to justify its very existence before getting down to the storytelling. Pride and Glory doesn't quite get around to reinventing its genre or adding anything to the conversation, but it's a solid piece of work, buoyed by great performances as much as it's hampered by silly dialogue. There are plenty of overblown lines and crazy plot twists to laugh at, but the story of good cops and bad cops and mean streets makes for a good yarn, like a Law and Order episode stretched to feature length.

Edward Norton leads the pack of strong performances as Ray, the kind of cop who lives alone on a houseboat and sequesters himself at a desk job to get away from the past. His dad (Jon Voight) and brother Francis (Noah Emmerich) encourage him to get back in the field, which he finally does when four cops are shot in a Washington Heights apartment, and he has to figure out why. Eventually the clues start leading back to his brother-in-law Jimmy (Colin Farrell), who we learn very early on is using his power as a cop to engage in some unscrupulous extracurricular activities.

Some family dynamics work their way into the story, including a weird subplot in which Francis' wife (Jennifer Ehle) is dying of cancer for no reason and a beautifully drunken, tearful toast at Christmas dinner. But for the most part director Gavin O'Connor (who co-wrote the film with Smokin' Aces director Joe Carnahan) sticks to the cop beats, giving some of the most touching scenes and subplots to the minor police characters. As Ray pushes forward with his investigation, it leads to disintegration among the force, with one cop blabbing to the press about his misdeeds and another senselessly holding up a convenience store, resulting in a hostage situation.

As the ringleader of the bad cops, Farrell chew scenery with some of his more horrendous scenes but never quite sells the "devoted family man" side of his character. And the screenplay doesn't give him anything beyond the usual evil genius motivations; he says lines like "The ends justify the means, buddy boy," but you're not certain exactly which ends Jimmy is going for. The relationship between Jimmy and Ray, played well between Farrell and Norton, adds some dramatic weight, but for the most part Jimmy could be any variety of mustache-twirling villain.

Pride and Glory is a less succinct version of James Gray's We Own the Night, the 2007 movie also about brothers and cops, but it has its own satisfactions for viewers in the mood to be generous with it. It does an excellent job pinpointing the racial tensions that the NYPD have a way of stirring up, and the action scenes provide their own appropriate thrill. There's no telling why anyone thought this movie was necessary to make, but now that it's here, we may as well enjoy it for what it is.

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ankit
November 5, 2008 at 14:00

This movie was great. A good performance by Colin Farell and even better by Edward Norton. Don't listen to any of the negative comments about this movie they are not true at all. The movie has you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire thing. Edward Norton proves again why he is the best actor today, and how he carefully chooses what movies to star in. The movie had some violence and dropped a lot of f-bombs, but if you are a Ed Norton fan and want to see a good movie, here is the one. The movie has a good ending, and kept me interested. There were also solid performances from Noah Emmerich and Jon Voight. Overall, I loved this movie and was one of the best I have seen this year.

Came across a site which has wallpapers and other interesting trivia of
this movie..

Check http://movies.iexplorehere.com/review/777/Pride-and-Glory.html
Ankit| Adept Media |

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May
October 27, 2008 at 17:46

Pride and Glory - Loved it... this movie is based on the true story of corrupt cops. Basically, Angel Tezo played by Ramon Rodriguez plays a spectacular part.

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Dissappointed
October 23, 2008 at 01:04

How do you expect this tripe to stop by giving it a rating of 3.5 when you know fully well it deserves
a rating of .0001?

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JLM
October 20, 2008 at 17:40

NYC jig-punk band the Prodigals have two songs featured in "Pride and Glory." You can check them out at www.prodigals.com or stop by the legendary Paddy Reilly's bar on a Friday night in NYC at around 11 pm to catch them live.

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JJJ
October 20, 2008 at 13:35

this was made around the same time as We Own the Night and its release was held back so as not to coincide with the other's release. So saying there was no need to make this film because of We Own the Night is an uninformed remark.

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Pride and Glory - Review

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