À Queima Roupa 3

"Wahat did you just say, man? A flick, with BOTH Joe Penny and Charley Bronson starring in it?" This was my reaction when a friend one day noticed this picture in our local videostore. A gift from above, indeedy! This story's got no plot what so ever, but the characters strikes me as pure brilliance- thank you, Sheldon, for bringing us such an actionpacked story in such a delicate wrapping! It is pure delight to watch Pennys 'iwanttobeBruceWillis' facts and questionable gesticulations, especially in the touching scene were he shares his mistakes in the force with the viewers. And his family of cops, of course... Watching Bronson, in what might be one of his last movies, makes me shiver with respect and nostalgia. This man, this symbol of action and mistaken manhood, has been working hard since the 50's, and that's not hard to tell. the man is tired, no doubt about it. But a big actor? Indeed!

Watching this last Family Of Cops film I have to wonder whether the Feins are the models for the Reagans of Blue Bloods. Certainly they are the Milwaukee Jewish version of the Irish Catholic Reagans. One also wonders if Charles Bronson would have done a future film where he became Chief of the Milwaukee PD. if bad health hadn't made this his farewell film.

Mayor Art Hindle brought that possibility up with Bronson as Bronson's eldest son Detective Joe Penny is investigating the shooting deaths of a prominent banker and Milwaukee mover and shaker and his wife in the bedroom of their home. Suspicion falls on the son, but then he's killed.

Years earlier Bronson was doing an investigation of the victim's bank for money laundering and was told to stop by the now outgoing Chief of the Milwaukee PD. When Bronson questions the chief they are attacked and the chief dies. Someone is most certainly tying up loose ends. But for the moment the whole Fein family is under a cloud.

No doubt Bronson was showing age and infirmity. Still the patriarchal role fits him well. Family Of Cops: Under Suspicion is not the greatest film to go out on, but hardly a disgrace.

And who knows if it weren't for the Feins we might not be enjoying Tom Selleck and his clan the Reagans.

FAMILY OF COPS III marks the final film of Charles Bronson's career, made just before the onset of Alzheimer's caused him to retire from acting for good. It's something of an ignoble end, not because it's particularly awful, but because it's just so unmemorable. Sadly, Bronson went out with a fizzle rather than a bang.

The story follows on from the last two movies in the trilogy, with head honcho cop Bronson now in line for the role of police chief (isn't he a little long in the tooth?) while assisting his son in hunting for a murderer. Despite a few moments of interest scattered here and there, this is strictly paint-by-numbers film-making, devoid of any real suspense, excitement or thrills.

Bronson is old and frail and barely on screen, and the supporting cast just didn't do enough to gain my interest. The murder mystery storyline is predictable and aside from a decent car stunt there's little here to enjoy. Looks like I'll be remembering Bronson for his glory days in the '70s and '80s rather than for his roles in this safe, family-friendly fare.

Charles Bronson returned once more in the role op Fein in this last episode of Family of Cops. And although it certainly wasn't the best in the series, it meant an improvement on the second installment. And when you watch this, you'll notice something : Bronson is the lead-character and has got so much screen-presence that you will accept that, even when he plays a police-officer, whilst being a 78-years-old actor ! When you watch carefully though you'll notice all other actors are really covering for him, a good sign in a police-flick of course. Bronson hasn't got a lot of script to go through, there's a remarkable absence of action for a cop (he's standing in the kitchen, sitting at a desk, in a car, lying on the couch) in a movie of this kind. But it doesn't matter. The story is good, Joe Penny is excellent. And Charlie constantly gives us this sad smile. He must have known there wouldn't be any more filming after this one.

I have never watched this 1999 TV movie titled "Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion" before now in 2024, as I happened to sit down to watch it as part of a Charles Bronson movie marathon.

The storyline in "Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion" was semi-adequate. Writer Noah Jubelirer put together a script and storyline that was fair enough for a single viewing. However, the narrative in the movie was rather slow paced, and that made sitting through 91 minutes of it somewhat of a struggle. Watchable, yes, but hardly an outstanding or memorable movie from writer Noah Jubelirer.

It was as if the script fell into a slump from early on in the movie and never recovered or got up in pacing. And without a whole lot of anything interesting actually going on, it was somewhat of a bland experience sitting through the movie.

The acting performances in the movie were fair enough. And you do know what you get with Charles Bronson in the lead. It was nice to see some returning performers from the previous movie in this movie.

Watchable for what it was, "Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion" was nothing much to write home about. And while I did manage to sit through the entire movie, it is definitely not something that will grace my screen a second time.

My rating of director Sheldon Larry's 1999 movie "Family of Cops III: Under Suspicion" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.