User Reviews

EvenHand is a slice-of-life-film where the filmmakers remembered that it needs to be an interesting slice. This movie takes a look at the daily grind of patrol life for two policemen in the town of San Lovisa, Texas and the different ways they each try to protect and serve.

Officer Rob Francis (Bill Dawes) is the new transfer into the bad side of town. He gets partnered up with Officer Ted Morning (Bill Sage) and the two of them immediately…well, plunge isn't the right word. It's more like they dip into the world of San Lovisa street crime, taking care of domestic disputes, neighborhood fracases, alleyway drug dealers and running off loiterers. Throughout the story, Francis has to deal with the violently ill-tempered David Mather (Lee Stringer) while Morning seems to delight in tormenting a teenage dope head named Toby (Io Tillett Wright). Francis also feebly flirts with a convenience store clerk named Jessica (Mirelly Taylor).

There's really not much more of a plot than that. There's no big case to solve or killer to track down. This film is all about two different men and the different ways they do an important but often overlooked job. Francis and Morning aren't detectives or CSI technicians who swoop after something terrible has happened. They're the cops on the beat who try and keep the peace, whether they're called out for the umpteenth time to deal with a squabbling couple or just making high school kids pick some litter on the side of the road.

Francis is the more thoughtful of the two. He wants to understand the situation and make the best decision he can. Morning take a bit more practical approach. He thinks the job of a cop is to show up and arrest people, so that's what he does as directly as possible. One of the discerning things about EvenHand is that it validates both approaches. Francis seems like the sort of reasonable cop you'd want talking to you, but he's also shown as being flatly not up to the challenge of the job at times. Morning is exactly the sort of arrogant pain-in-the-ass cop no one wants to deal with, but he's exactly who you want showing up to save your behind.

Bill Dawes and Bill Sage do a great job developing a rapport between their characters. If Francis and Morning only had to deal with each other for a few minutes every day, they'd come to loath each other. By being stuck together, they not only have to develop a tolerance but let their guards down and recognize their common humanity.

Writer Mike Jones deserves credit for crafting such complete human beings, exposing a little of their depth and leaving the rest implied. Director Joseph Pierson also does a fine, though not particularly flashy, job. When a movie isn't being pushed along by a propulsive plot, it's very common for it to meander, stall and collapse before it's done. Pierson keeps the story moving always forward, which isn't that easy when it's not actually going anywhere.

EvenHand is a skillful blend of good storytelling and good acting. It's a police drama about the human beings who wear the badge and how they can only do the best they can, just like everybody else.

Okay, I'm a cop. I'm in Texas, and I work in a suburb of San Antonio, fictionalized as "San Lovisa." I'm also a movie junkie. Naturally, I couldn't resist when I saw, on the Sundance Channel, a movie about Texas cops.

The first thing I thought was that some SAPD officer had written a script and managed to get it made, good for him. After watching for a few minutes, waiting for that first cheesy shoot out, or some other over-the-top action sequence, I thought, can it be that someone actually made a cop movie about beat cops without car chases, explosions, shoot outs and all that other stereotypical Hollywood BS?

There are so many subtleties of the job that the actors and writer nailed on the head, I was initially convinced that Sage and/or Dawes were or are SAPD officers. Especially Dawes, I could have sworn I'd seen him around. Sage's performance gets a little over the top here and there, but he still nails it for the most part. The dialogue and attitudes and relationship of the two officers and their peers could have been transcribed from any meal break or roll call ( I especially got a kick out of Morning's "fat cop" philosophy). Or how Jessica doesn't recognize Ofc. Francis out of his uniform (find me a cop that's never had that happen!).

This is a cop movie about people. About the men (in this case) wearing the blue suit. Think about that. It's not about a gang unit, or some killer posing as a cop, or a crooked cop that needs to be exposed. It's not a detective caper, no international drug smuggling conspiracies here, no sting operations, no surveillance, no high speed pursuits and not really any foot chases. The one officer involved shooting (excepting the end shooting) is not a "shootout," and is realistically portrayed as far as I'm concerned.

Bottom line, if you'd like to see a movie that accurately portrays the day in-day out life of a patrolman, without all the far-fetched shoot outs and car chases, see this movie. If you want to see some top notch performances, give it a shot. It's a movie about the job, the relationship between two partners, the dynamic of working patrol and seeing the same old things amongst a series of wholly new challenges, and the difference in attitudes that each officer brings to the table. If the TV show "Cops" showed the 'reality' of the job, it'd look more like this.

I was lucky enough to see Evenhand at the Edinburgh Film Festival and speak to the director Joseph Pierson . Unlike most recent cop films Pierson chose to portray all his officers as regular people so don't expect to see any super cops like Nicholas Farrell or Mel Gibson .

Bill Sage reveals (Officer Ted Morning) insights to his character in his first few lines when he tells his new partner Officer Rob Francis (played in an understated style by Bill Dawes) that he hates fat cops .

Repeated calls by a battered wife illustrate the frustration that officers feel at dealing with domestic violence . It's not all bleak though - as in real life there's a healthy cynical humour when the officers set up in picnic chairs outside a suspects house .

I'll agree that the first half hour is problematic, but after that it does pick up steam. It's also not about small town life - it's a dreary suburb (they mention the difference between the "north side" of town and where they are) with dreary problems and people behaving in an ugly fashion.

Thats being said, it is fairly engrossing and without providing spoilers, the climax is VERY shocking and unexpected. A worthwhile diversion.