If there's any value to be gleaned from Pride and Glory it's that even movies built around a pairing of top tier actors with a strong supporting cast can be miserable failures if the story isn't up to snuff.
Ed Norton and Colin Farrell play two New York City cops at the center of this tepid tale of corruption and murder. Both are linked by family, with Farrell's Jimmy Egan married to Ray Tierney's (Norton) sister. When a crew of officers are found shot in a botched raid on a crack house, the force puts a full court press on finding the gunman, and hands the reigns of the investigating task force to Tierney.
Director and co-screenwriter Gavin O'Connor wastes little time in establishing that the killer was part of a slimy corruption ring involving criminal gangs and cops, however he quickly lifts the veil off the mystery by revealing the identities of the officers on the take, forcing the story to simply go through the motions leading up to the inevitable and all too predictable climax.
Norton and Farrell both turn in strong performances, as do Jon Voight and Noah Emmerich as Tierney's father and brother respectively, and if a movie was judged on acting alone, Pride and Glory would be in the top shelf. Unfortunately it's built upon a theme that's been mined countless times before, and fails to break any new ground in the process. The end result is a film that is destined to be one of the many unremarkable titles that line the racks at the local DVD outlet, or pad the bargain bins at department stores.
As the police often say: "move along folks, there's nothing to see here".
Ed Norton and Colin Farrell play two New York City cops at the center of this tepid tale of corruption and murder. Both are linked by family, with Farrell's Jimmy Egan married to Ray Tierney's (Norton) sister. When a crew of officers are found shot in a botched raid on a crack house, the force puts a full court press on finding the gunman, and hands the reigns of the investigating task force to Tierney.
Director and co-screenwriter Gavin O'Connor wastes little time in establishing that the killer was part of a slimy corruption ring involving criminal gangs and cops, however he quickly lifts the veil off the mystery by revealing the identities of the officers on the take, forcing the story to simply go through the motions leading up to the inevitable and all too predictable climax.
Norton and Farrell both turn in strong performances, as do Jon Voight and Noah Emmerich as Tierney's father and brother respectively, and if a movie was judged on acting alone, Pride and Glory would be in the top shelf. Unfortunately it's built upon a theme that's been mined countless times before, and fails to break any new ground in the process. The end result is a film that is destined to be one of the many unremarkable titles that line the racks at the local DVD outlet, or pad the bargain bins at department stores.
As the police often say: "move along folks, there's nothing to see here".