Hollywood Product - Police drama Pride and Glory shoots but doesn’t score
GENRE: Cops on the “edge”
THE PITCH: The deaths of four police officers reveals not just NYPD corruption but the fault lines in a family of cops, including brainy, underachieving Ray (Edward Norton), upstanding precinct commander Francis (Noah Emmerich), corrupt brother-in-law Jimmy (Colin Farrell), and their dad, a boozing senior officer (Jon Voight).
MONEY SHOTS: A drug dealer uses a potato as a silencer. A harrowing intimidation scene involves a hot iron. A tense hostage crisis fuels a street riot. A big showdown in a bar starts with suspense but turns into a slap-fight accompanied by Irish pop music. The best scenes, however, tend to be short one-on-one conversations with Norton and various eyewitnesses.
BEST LINES: Norton: “Have you been drinking?” Voight: “Glass of scotch, officer.” Norton: “Just one?” Voight: “I used one glass, yes.” The film lasts just over two hours, and this is the only laugh.
WORST LINES: “You’re my kid, my blood, and you might as well be a fuckin’ martian,” Voight tells Norton. Later, someone tells Norton, “You’re the only way through this. You’re the only door.” (So which is he, a Martian or a door?) There’s also lots of yelling of impenetrable police slang and profanity, including the ever-popular “fucko.”
BODY COUNT: I make it 14 and one dog. Most of the violence takes place off-camera, although blood and the occasional tooth fly everywhere. Norton sports a hook-shaped scar on his cheekbone.
PRODUCT PLACEMENT: A muckraking reporter for the New York Post sets up Ray for his moment of truth.
BACKSTORY: The son of an 18-year NYPD veteran, director Gavin O’Connor wrote the script with brother Greg O’Connor and Narc filmmaker Joe Carnahan. The film is dedicated to the NYPD’s late Eric Hernandez, who turned up as an extra in the early scenes with a police intramural football game, but was accidentally shot by another officer in 2006.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Pride and Glory never clicks as either a police procedural mystery or a gritty character study, and better films have addressed the same police corruption themes. You could describe the acting as one long “DeNiro-Off,” a competition to see who can be the most intense and shouty. Norton isn’t bad, and Emmerich offers sturdy support – they could both retire to “CSI” spin-off shows.