Código de Familia

I saw a screening of "Pride and Glory" last night. It's the kind of American movie you don't see anymore, a throwback to the big themes and dramatic tone of the 1950s, when Elia Kazan was making movies like "East of Eden" and "On the Waterfront," and Arthur Miller was writing plays like "Death of a Salesman" and "All My Sons." Family, honor, corruption, right and wrong, fathers and sons--these are the kinds of issues that director/co-writer Gavin O'Connor is taking on in "Pride and Glory," and in doing so he's made a timeless film. Sincere without being sentimental (much like "Miracle," O'Connor's last effort), "Pride and Glory" gets elbow deep in a corruption scandal that threatens to crack the blue wall of the NYPD and destroy the Tierney family legacy (patriarch Jon Voight, sons Ed Norton and Noah Emmerich, and outlaw brother-in-law Colin Farrell, who has never been better). A muscular, old-school American film, with big themes splashed on a big canvas, "Pride and Glory" is familiar and original at the same time. In the Age of Irony, these are the kinds of movies you rarely see anymore. An honest, gripping drama.

The Tierney family is a family of cops across the generations – with cops even married into the family. When a NYPD officer is killed in a violent drug-related shootout, Ray Tierney is asked by his father to be part of the task force dedicated to finding out who it was who killed one of their own. Ray agrees as the unit affected is led by his brother Francis and includes his brother-in-law Jimmy. With Ray searching the streets for the truth, Francis already knows more than him as his men are involved in activities outside the law, using their roles within the police as cover. Everyone wants to close the matter but not everyone wants the truth to come out in doing so.

The release of Pride and Glory was delayed and the suggestion reason was its similarity in tone and broad theme to We Own the Night. I'm not sure whether this is true or not but I will question whether it was necessary to delay this film if the aim was that it would avoid comparison with other films or feeling like it is something the viewer has seen before. I question this because the film's biggest failing is that we have seen it all before and it doesn't really bring much beyond the star names to justify me being excited about seeing it again. This is not to say it is awful (although some have) but just that it is very familiar and very "sturdy" – sturdy being a quality one looks for in furniture rather than films. Thankfully the film doesn't keep the "corruption" in the cupboard for very long because to suggest it is a mystery would be an insult to the viewer, who can pretty much see where the film is heading about 90 minutes before it gets there.

With many stories it is hard to plough a new furrow so one does find that often films have a familiar narrative and that this is not a problem. The thing is to draw the viewer in despite having seen it before or perhaps knowing where it is going – make them hope for different, make them care about the characters you put the fact that this is a film with an ending to the back of your mind. Pride and Glory doesn't manage to do this though and it surprised me considering the actors involved. The problem is not really with them though but with the material, which has too many characters but too little development of them. Norton seems a bit lost in this but still does turn in a solid performance. Likewise Farrell is good and it only further highlights how much of a waste it is not to give them more to work off individually and together. Voight and Emmerich add to this but again neither has the material to really do good work with so, although nobody is "bad" nobody really impresses either. O'Connor does an OK job as director but doesn't get much urgency or emotion into it – although this is the result of failing to do the same as writer.

Pride and Glory is a solid but wholly unremarkable film that is distracting but unmemorable. It feels old and dated despite still being in the cinema and I imagine this will only be worse when it arrives on television in about five years time. The names involved are impressive but nobody can really deliver what they are able to because the material is just not there in the depth they require. Not a "bad" film by any means, just one that is hard to get excited about or shake the feeling that you've seen it done better elsewhere.

Films revolving around a family of policemen are nothing new. Pride & Glory, starring Norton & Farrell, isn't anything revolutionary in the genre but takes a generally strong storyline and adds some good acting.

Story revolves around a group of cops (led by Farrell) up to their necks in trouble after their corrupt scams have backfired on them, and to cover their backs they need to tread deeper into the mire. On the other hand is Norton (Farrell's brother-in-law) who slowly discovers what's going on, and it all goes helter-skelter.

In many ways in these films they can get a little clichéd and melodramatic, but this film seems conscious of that fact, and in general has strayed away from what it could have been. Nevertheless, its nothing special but still interesting. The main interest is the family politics and dynamics and that should keep your interest with the generally good acting. An enjoyable movie.

Colin Farrell, Edward Norton, Noah Emmerich, and Jon Voight all deliver great performances. There are many intense scenes throughout the movie, and Norton and Farrell match them with their own intensity. Voight is believable and realistic as the patriarch of the family of cops and the chief, trying to keep his family in order as he thinks it should be.

Despite the inspired performances of the main characters, however, Pride and Glory falls short due to awkward pacing, pointlessly convoluted side-stories revealed in equally pointless scenes, and a general lack of focus. Pride and Glory tries to tell two or three stories at once, but fails to really punctuate any one of them, leading to a fairly emotionless climax and no discernible, unifying theme. The result is a forgettable movie and a hint of buyer's remorse; if you're a big enough fan of Ed Norton or Colin Farrell and want to see either of them put on a great performance, catch the matinée, or even still, wait a few months and rent it.

In 2008 New York thriller "Pride And Glory" Edward Norton's a cop reluctantly pulled in (by top brass dad Jon Voight) to investigate the shootings of four fellow cops who worked under his bro Noah Emmerich (married to Jennifer Ehle) with hard-ass Colin Farrell (married to his sister Lake Bell), Shia Whigham & Frank Grillo. What unfolds is a rich & finely crafted tale of Irish-American family & NY cop loyalty & corruption, good vs bad, and the blurring of those lines. The drama occasionally slips to melodrama, but co-writer (with Joe Carnahan) / director Gavin O'Connor does an excellent job applying the polish, eliciting great performances & keeping it taut. Terrific film.