"Brooklyns' Finest" movie review

Based solely upon the trailer, "Brooklyn's Finest" looked like it was going to be a good cop movie, but it definitely disappoints. The film revolves around three separate storylines which I expected to converge at the end, but which never did. Richard Gere ("Amelia") stars as a cop who is retiring in a week; Don Cheadle ("Oceans" movies) as an undercover cop who is entangled with Brooklyn drug lords; and Ethan Hawke ("Daybreakers") as a dirty cop who is stealing drug money so that he can move his pregnant, asthmatic wife and his thirty children (seriously, we're shown at least six or seven and it seems like a lot more) to a nicer house that isn't mold-infested. The movie mostly focused on Cheadle and his story but it also shows Gere trying to get through his last week of being a cop and Hawke stealing "dirty money" whenever he can.

There are a couple of good cameos in the movie. Vincent D'Onofrio ("Law and Order: CI") has a small part at the beginning, and Wesley Snipes ("Blade") plays one of Cheadle's drug associates. Ellen Barkin also has a role as a bitchy detective who manipulates Cheadle's character to get him to rat out one of his friends. Gere, Hawke, and Cheadle all are decent in their respective roles as well.

I was going to say "Maybe" see this movie, but after thinking about it more I would say "No," skip it. The film and also its ending failed to satisfy me; there were no surprise twists and the plot was disorganized as well. There are a couple of random plot lines thrown into the mix too that could have easily been skipped. The only thing linking these three of Brooklyn's "finest" is the fact that they are all cops, and in this movie age, that is simply not enough to make a good film.

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