EvenHand

My adolescent son rented this "cop" film "EVENHAND" a couple of days ago, and I reluctantly agreed to watch with him. He got bored with it after thirty minutes, but I was actually intrigued and decided to give it a try. I was, in effect, blown away! I didn't realize that there were "cop" films like this. This was by no means a typical car chase, shootemup -- this was an adult film about troubled people in real situations, dealing with real issues. It kind of reminded me of the early "NYPD Blues" series before it got weird and convoluted. I was very impressed with the two actors, and, since I never seen their work before, I thought perhaps they were two police officers who decided to make a movie about their lifes. That's how realistic it seemed! When I see actors like this who are unknown, and then I see all the mediocre actors on tv, I have to ask...

Evenhand is a very impressive accomplishment: a quiet, thoughtful cop film. Its premise is familiar: two very different personalities working to adapt to each other and to the many demands of their jobs as patrolmen. So it's very much a character study, and the two principal actors -- Bill Sage and Bill Dawes -- do an excellent job of realizing their characters. As the film's energy is derived from their characters' different natures, it would have been very easy for each of their performances to become caricatures. They did not. In each, you see a fully-dimensioned person, including echoes of his partner's traits. That's good acting of good writing.

I also enjoyed the matter-of-fact style of the film, which reminded me of Victor Nunez's wonderful and under-appreciated Ruby In Paradise.

The acting is pretty good in this indie film, while the production value isn't that great. Bill Sage.turns in a good performance, as usual for him, and Mirelly. Taylor is good as well. The other main character is poorly played by. Bill Dawes, who should stick to standup comedy.

This film won't become a cult classic, but it will probably continue to be shown on cable. It's not a bad film at all, and is even memorable in some ways. The scene with the deranged man who is carrying a cinder block with a rope tied to it and to himself is kind of memorable at least. I liked this and gave a dvd of it to a friend who is from San Antonio.

This is a slice-of-(police)-life drama, that doesn't take the "Hollywood cop movie" route of making the cops crooked. Nope, these cops are human. Bill Sage is great as Officer Morning, the slightly jaded cop taking Officer Francis (Bill Dewes) under his wing. Morning may act like an ass at times, and Francis too saintly, yet you never fail to believe that these two are each doing the right thing in their respective heads. Playing more like a series of vignettes (a la' 'Cops'), this film doesn't have a true plotline until late in the film. But that's just a minor quibble. As far as independent films go, this still remains one of the better ones that I've seen in a while.

My Grade: C

Where i Saw it: Sundance Channel

Yet another film that would have us believe that bullying, lawbreaking, and the administration of "street" justice are all just the handiwork of unloved, seasoned cops. In this one, as in all of them, the idealistic partner is teamed with the cynical hardnose, with their initial friction creating a clear option of allegiances for the viewer. And, as always, the idealistic one slowly sees the "reality" of the situation, as he slides into tolerating, then approving, then adopting some (albeit not all) of his partner's dubious methods and views.

This is a gritty film, but one with wit and a bit of that indie film feel that some folks really love. The fact that it's about a rather worn theme doesn't diminish its craftsmanly, and sometimes artistic, level of success. As a movie about mis-matched cops, it really works. If you like that sort of thing, you'll like this one.

But... I must say that--as un-PC as it is in this post-9/11 world--I am really tired of movies that want me to believe that a bad cop is really my unsung hero. The makers of this film were so afraid I'd miss that point (and, uh, well... they shouldn't have worried) that it is almost _literally_ stated for us in narration towards the end.

I scored this one an "8," because it's a good film. But the message about nasty police somehow being a necessity of life was more than a little nauseating, partly because it was so heavy-handed. If you prefer your cop stories with a little more ambiguity, you might pass on this otherwise very good movie.