At one point one of the characters of "Prince of the City" quotes this: "The law means everything to me and if any arm of the law is corrupt nothing can work, nothing. It is simple as that." But both the movie and the real life seems to proof that the law is a body and the arms of the law has too many hands, too many fingers and they always want more than they can and should carry, they don't follow what the brain says: don't be corrupt, respect the honor code and things like that. In the story all the parts (police officers, detectives, district attorneys) works on different levels, one team doing the right thing and the other being corrupt, stealing and other assorted things. But in the story there will be one guy who has the proof to others and to himself that he can change things and make the law work again even though he was part of the wrong side.
Sindey Lumet's second installment on the dark side of the law is "Prince of the City" whose story resembles "Serpico" and "Night Falls on Manhattan", both of these films telling stories about the lack of ethics of police detectives on law's duty. It tells about good people who want to bring these people to court and judge them for their crimes.
The movie was taken of a real case. Treat Williams plays Daniel Ciello a corrupt police detective approached by a prosecutor (Norman Parker) to catch another detectives like him involved with the Mafia and other unethical behavior and bring them to trial. This detective is reluctant, nervous about what he's going to do, only accepting the task with one condition: he won't rat any of his friends, they must be out of the investigation. But that seems to be impossible. Daniel will be spiraling out of control while investigating another police officers, detectives, drug dealers, mobsters, recording their conversations but the D.A.'s office wants more and more names and some of Daniel's friends might get burned. Will Daniel survive to all this pressure?
By hearing the plot you'll think that the film is filled with clichés and it has some, but for the most part "Prince of the City" stays in a original presentation of facts on a thrilling story that goes for almost three hours without boring the viewer. Here's a story about a guy who wants to get some redemption over his corrupt and criminal past trying to do the right thing, but he always see that doing the right thing is not so easy, and probably he'll disappoint his friends and family by investigating another cops. Treat Williams has a incredible performance playing this tough guy who has a Shakespearian dilemma and must fight against everything and everyone.
The drama is very convincing, knows how to deliver some tense moments and it also has a strong but slightly sense of humor (the detectives meetings talks is a great example). Lumet did a terrific job here, among his best films of all time and I dare say that it is was better than "Serpico" even Lumet must think that because he always felt that "Serpico" was one dimensional, it didn't embraced the police work and the law work as a whole, it wasn't so much realistic. "Prince of the City" skilfully managed to get all that, presenting a deep and powerful statement over both sides of the law.
Among the best moments of the film I select Daniel's testimony on court about the things he made and seen while on duty, and the prosecutors reunion trying to decide Daniel's future, having one side against him, quoting that he's a criminal and other supporting him, saluting this man's good work for them. These two moments are perfectly alternated between each other (thanks to a great editing), creating a extraordinary effect on the viewer.
The supporting cast includes good performances of Jerry Orbach, Bob Balaban, Richard Foronjy, Lance Henriksen, Lane Smith, Lindsay Crouse, James Tolkan, Norman Parker (he should've obtained a Oscar nomination for his role), one cameo by Alan King and one small scene featuring a very young Cynthia Nixon.
This a truly case of a great but underrated movie. 9/10
Sindey Lumet's second installment on the dark side of the law is "Prince of the City" whose story resembles "Serpico" and "Night Falls on Manhattan", both of these films telling stories about the lack of ethics of police detectives on law's duty. It tells about good people who want to bring these people to court and judge them for their crimes.
The movie was taken of a real case. Treat Williams plays Daniel Ciello a corrupt police detective approached by a prosecutor (Norman Parker) to catch another detectives like him involved with the Mafia and other unethical behavior and bring them to trial. This detective is reluctant, nervous about what he's going to do, only accepting the task with one condition: he won't rat any of his friends, they must be out of the investigation. But that seems to be impossible. Daniel will be spiraling out of control while investigating another police officers, detectives, drug dealers, mobsters, recording their conversations but the D.A.'s office wants more and more names and some of Daniel's friends might get burned. Will Daniel survive to all this pressure?
By hearing the plot you'll think that the film is filled with clichés and it has some, but for the most part "Prince of the City" stays in a original presentation of facts on a thrilling story that goes for almost three hours without boring the viewer. Here's a story about a guy who wants to get some redemption over his corrupt and criminal past trying to do the right thing, but he always see that doing the right thing is not so easy, and probably he'll disappoint his friends and family by investigating another cops. Treat Williams has a incredible performance playing this tough guy who has a Shakespearian dilemma and must fight against everything and everyone.
The drama is very convincing, knows how to deliver some tense moments and it also has a strong but slightly sense of humor (the detectives meetings talks is a great example). Lumet did a terrific job here, among his best films of all time and I dare say that it is was better than "Serpico" even Lumet must think that because he always felt that "Serpico" was one dimensional, it didn't embraced the police work and the law work as a whole, it wasn't so much realistic. "Prince of the City" skilfully managed to get all that, presenting a deep and powerful statement over both sides of the law.
Among the best moments of the film I select Daniel's testimony on court about the things he made and seen while on duty, and the prosecutors reunion trying to decide Daniel's future, having one side against him, quoting that he's a criminal and other supporting him, saluting this man's good work for them. These two moments are perfectly alternated between each other (thanks to a great editing), creating a extraordinary effect on the viewer.
The supporting cast includes good performances of Jerry Orbach, Bob Balaban, Richard Foronjy, Lance Henriksen, Lane Smith, Lindsay Crouse, James Tolkan, Norman Parker (he should've obtained a Oscar nomination for his role), one cameo by Alan King and one small scene featuring a very young Cynthia Nixon.
This a truly case of a great but underrated movie. 9/10