Film Review: Bad boys in blue make an impact in 'Pride and Glory'

Warner Bros. Pictures

Colin Farrell (left) stars as Jimmy Egan and Edward Norton as Ray Tierney, two New York City police officers, in "Pride and Glory."

An efficient if overwrought addition to the evergreen movie tradition of boys in blue behaving very, very badly, “Pride and Glory” chronicles the collapse of a rogue corps of corrupt cops after brainy detective Edward Norton agrees to investigate a drug bust-turned-massacre that left four New York police officers dead.

You can fill in the details before director-writer Gavin O’Connor and co-writer Joe Carnahan (“Narc”) bother to supply them: Norton’s Ray Tierney lives alone (extra points if you guessed “on a houseboat”); he’s dealing with a busted marriage; he belongs to a multigenerational family of police officers; and the sad/cheerful setting is Christmastime.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Colin Farrell (left) stars as Jimmy Egan and Edward Norton as Ray Tierney, two New York City police officers, in "Pride and Glory."

Pride and Glory

Four New York City cops are dead, killed in an ambush that has the entire police department on alert and on edge. With a cop ...

Rating: R for strong violence, pervasive language and brief drug content

Length: 125 minutes

Released: October 24, 2008 Nationwide

Cast: Ed Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, Noah Emmerich, Jennifer Ehle

Director: Gavin O'Connor

Writer: Joe Carnahan, Gregory O'Connor, Gavin O'Connor, Robert A. Hopes

More info and showtimes »

Also predictable (for 2008) but unfortunate is the movie’s visual style: The “realistic” photography is dark and murky, with almost every shot leached of color except for that cold movie-familiar shade of dead-skin blue. As a result, we grab onto the actors — they’re often the only things of interest onscreen. They don’t let us down; they guide us through the dim, confused world of O’Connor’s compositions. Even the many secondary characters all make an impact.

Of course, Tierney’s investigation threatens not just his fellow officers but his family. Brother-in-law Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell) is the pyscho commandant of the corrupt cops; brother Francis (Noah Emmerich) is the captain played for a chump; dad (Jon Voight, making an impact for the first time in what seems like years) is the veteran detective with a love for his sons and his booze. The spouses are sketched with care, particularly Francis’ wife, a cancer sufferer played by Jennifer Ehle.

This is an adult crime film, and not just because the f-bombs fall as liberally as the snowflakes that drop during the inevitable funeral sequence. Despite the frequent brutality (as often implied or threatened as shown), the movie avoids time-killing action-violence and eschews cheap heroics. Time is killed in other ways, however; the editing is undisciplined (the football montage that plays through the opening credits contributes nothing), and the 125-minute movie is at least 15 minutes too long.

— John Beifuss, 529-2394

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