The cop drama, Cable television has kind of cornered that market with intense dramas like “The Shield” and “The Wire”. With competition like this, to tackle a New York cop drama on the big screen has to be verrrry difficult to say the least, to trying not seem too clichéd or tired almost impossible…Not in the capable hands of a good director who’s aware of his struggle.

Enter Antione Fuqua, hands down my favorite current black film director. He’s tackled this territory before in LA with “Training Day” which earned his lead actor an Oscar and earned him a best picture nod. But it’s not just about the director with this film, almost every actor in this film chews up his/her scenes. There’s Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Don Cheadle, Richard Gere and Ellen Barkin (yes she’s still alive) all who give very strong performances.

The story goes like this, Ethan Hawke’s character is a frustrated underpaid New York cop with 5 kids and twins on the way with a wife whose health is suffering because of rotten mold in the current house he’s in, so he’s just looking for an opportunity to get “paid” off the books by stealing drug dealer cash. Don Cheadle’s character is an undercover cop, in so deep the line has blurred for him so he wants out. Wesley Snipes is the big drug boss that Don Cheadle is supposed to be after until he saves Don’s life…they’re boys of course. Lastly Richard Gere is an old cop on his last week before retirement and who do they put in his care for that week? A new rookie cop of course.

Amazingly all these stories cross paths at some point and all come together awesomely. As I said, the movie starts out with these tired clichés and yet wrings some life out of it, redeeming itself by the end, which packs a whollop and some truly stellar performances by the cast. All in all a really good film that restores my faith in Antione’s moviemaking skills. It actually took me back to those dope 70′s cop dramas like Serpico, Fort Apache the Bronx, The Choirboys, etc. A hard R for language, nudity and very graphic violence. A 7.5 Sir M

Rating: (7.5/10)

Smite All Cornballs

Sir M

Sorry “Strange Days” fans I have never been the biggest Katherine Bigelow fan, sorry…actually, no I’m not. I didn’t like it or her…so suck it. Okay, fine, she did direct “Point Break”…you liked it, so did I, (cheesy early Keanu moments aside). “The Hurt Locker”, however, is perhaps the most engaging and entertaining film I’ve seen about the recent fighting in the middle east, the second best probably being “The Kingdom”. If you haven’t seen it, like most of America, you slept.

“Hurt Locker” revolves around a bomb disposal unit stationed in Baghdad who is joined by a new mysterious loner, played by Jeremy Renner (“The Assassination Of Jesse James”, “SWAT”). I know, I know, cliche. But it works…seriously. He enters the movie with little explanation and goes about the business of disarming bombs in his own seemingly reckless fashion, much to the extreme irritation of his team, especially his point man played by Anthony Mackie. But of course he is the shiznit at what he does, seeming to almost commune with the bombs he diffuses, to the point of even removing his protective gear in most cases, which is apparently a big no-no. Go figure.

This movie is surprisingly raw, terse, and full of great cameos, which, by the way, Bigelow makes brilliant use of. The way she manipulates us with the abundance of star power at her disposal alone makes the movie worth seeing. $1000 to anyone who can see the twists coming w/the movie’s guest stars (no, not really). She manages to bring palpable tension to the screen, not just with the nail-biting encounters or with the myriad of different scenarios surrounding the bomb disposal scenes but also in the interactions between Renner and Mackie, as well as the other characters in the film. The eerie depiction of the local insurgents and their casual taunting and baiting of the U.S. soldiers is truly haunting. Call me a punk, but I found myself thanking God I didn’t have to go over there myself, there’s just something unnerving about being face to face with someone who not only wants to kill you, but also doesn’t speak a word of english, and who smiles back at an AR-17 aimed down his throat.

The film seems to have come and gone, like most worthwhile movies these days, but it was well shot, acted, written, produced and executed. See it, and pass it on.

Mentyl – The Evil Genius

Rating: (8.5/10)