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!

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.

Enjoyed this TV series starring Charles Bronson as Paul Fein and in this particular series I enjoyed him even more. Bronson played his role to perfection and acted like a professional cop who had almost served 40 years of service. In this picture Paul Fein is investigating different aspects of a banker's death, as well as, Ben Fein, (Joe Penny) and the fact that their is corruption in the police department and even the Mayor of the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin where this film is suppose to take place. One of his daughter's is expecting a child and the father of the baby does not want to marry her, so she is going to raise the child as a single mom with all the family supporting her. There is plenty of action with bullets flying all over the place and car chases over a bridge that opens up. It was great seeing this picture with Charles Bronson at the age of 77 years making a great TV series as a final swan song, he sure was a great actor and I am glad he was able to keep acting which was the love of his life.

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.

This may be the best of the 3 Family of Cops movies. The story is very good, and Charles Bronson shows a sense of humor. I wish that Angela Featherstone would have returned as his daughter, but that is a minor complaint. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes a solid mystery.