Pur et dur

top rate young turk actors, stephen baldwin and chris penn turn in painfully wooden portrayals of stereotypic undercover cops, baldwin: haunted good cop w/mafia boyhood friend and Penn: liqour/gambling addicted cop w/fatalist attitude...the FBI squeeze play is totally contrived, hackneyed and never advances the plot, the love interest sub-plot is under-developed and equally stilted...possibly the foreign (art film) director couldn't handle the material and/or properly motivate the cast...the subject matter and identical rape of a nun was masterfully done in "Bad Lieutenant" starring Harvey Keitel

Or: an ode to Bo Dietl. This is the usual hero worship from an Ed McBain wannabe. No real plot, no production values to speak off, just a lot of actors who want to be part of an "important" story. And they should know better. I found it very difficult to care about _any_ of the characters in this turgid piece of cinema. And that's even though I like Stephen Baldwin, Chris Penn and Nora Gershon.

It doesn't help that the protagonists are the usual Black nun-rapists on angel dust (or crack in this case - where did I see that before - Hill Street Blues), it doesn't help that Dietl is chumming up with the local maffia (Mike McGlone), who are ok after all, as they're just good Catholic boys from the hood. Does Mike McGlone as the local mafia hood do anything illegal other than kiss Stephen Baldwin and sit around in a restaurant looking unemployed? And what's with all this kissing stuff? I think Stephen Baldwin and Mike McGlone kiss at least three times throughout the movie?

Something must be very rotten with the police, when they and the mafia are just a bunch of good old boys and the FBI fighting corruption are just out to get a small time, hardworking cop. Right. How mean of them. I guess they just don't understand. Check out the reviews of his book at Amazon.com to read the opinions of some (probably) real cops.

In short, this is just one overly long ode to a nobody called Bo Dietl. Miss it.

The New York policeman Stephen Baldwin partied with his childhood friend, the mafioso Mike McGlone. Their complicity draws the attention of FBI... Inspired by the life of the policeman Bo Dietl, this muscular whodunit interpreted by Stephen Baldwin ("The Usual Suspects") brushes a bitter and violent picture of the daily life in the New York police. The first quarter of an hour let augur a robust detective, bitter and restless film. But the continuation does not hold the initial promises. The intrigue, badly tied up, suffers from the Stephen Baldwin's transparent interpretation.

One Tough Cop was a film that had one of the best trailers I've ever seen. It made the film look like a fascinating and powerful police drama. The film however did not get even close to the expectations of the trailer. It wasn't bad however. Just not great. Stephen Baldwin (The Usual Suspects, Fled) stars as a police officer whose best friends are all involved in the Mob. Despite a great record, he gets framed by Internal Affairs and has to decide between his friends or his job. Chris Penn (Deceiver, The Funeral) is very good in support as Baldwin's very much in debt partner. Gina Gershon (Face/Off, Palmetto) is ok as the love interest. But the film's biggest strength lies in Stephen Baldwin. Baldwin is one of the most underrated actors in my mind (mainly because of poor career choices), but here he delivers a strong performance that brings the film through all of its predictability. Recommended for Baldwin's performance mainly.

One Tough Cop has a terrible title, but is a fun movie. More like a made for TV movie than a theatrical release, it nonetheless is entertaining. Chris Penn and Baldwin turn in good performances and the story, although cliche, is good enough to keep your attention. I gave it a 7/10.