Les flics ne dorment pas la nuit

Stacy Keach and George C. Scott star in this very gritty, very honest portrayal of early-70s police life. It's directed by Richard Fleischer, who usually worked on much flashier material than this. I've seen a lot of films that dug in and tried to paint a clear image of police life, but this story brings a level of realism that is somewhat missing in most cases - it was written by a cop (Joseph Wambaugh).

"The New Centurions" is a title that hints at a much deeper perspective into familiar territory. Even though all the suspected clichés are still somewhat in place, they're there out of reality rather than just filling space in a movie plot. George C. Scott's character is on his way to retirement, but instead of him not making it, he takes a much darker path. It's that darker path, and the sense of hope behind it, that informs both Scott and Keach in their fantastic performances. They're as good as they'd ever been here - deep, powerful, and incredibly personal. There's a real emotional vulnerability on display that can't be denied.

Roy Fehler (Stacy Keach), Gus Plebesly (Scott Wilson), and Sergio Duran (Erik Estrada) are rookie police patrolmen. Roy hopes to become a lawyer and his police work inevitably causes friction with his wife Dorothy (Jane Alexander). He's paired with experienced cop Andy Kilvinski (George C. Scott) who expounds his Kilvinski's Law on the tough streets of LA. Gus is by-the-book with 3 kids. He's paired with Whitey (Clifton James) and accidentally kills an unarmed man.

This is episodic in nature and is more TV than cinema. It fits a lot better as an ongoing TV show. It has a fun early moment of a fake impromptu divorce of a battling drunken couple. It's sardonic and crass. George C. Scott is operating at the top of his game. His performance fills his scenes. This would work better as a movie if it has a definitive central case or villain or incident. This is the opposite of slick. I can certainly see many later TV cop shows using this movie as a template.

I recently bought the Season One DVD set for "Police Story"--the cop show from the 70s that was inspired by Joseph Wambaugh's film "The New Centurions". So far, I've really enjoyed "Police Story"--and am sad that only the first season is on DVD. So, in consolation, I decided to at least see "The New Centurions".

Like "Police Story", "The New Centurions" does not whitewash police work. The language is very earthy, to say the least--especially since it didn't need to worry about television audiences and was rated R. It shows the interesting side as well as the downside--and all through the perspective of a rookie cop, Fehler (Stacy Keach), as you follow his through the years. There is a HUGE price to pay for loving a job like this--as his marriage falls apart and he pretty much gives his life for the department.

I have noticed that other reviewers talk about Fehler's partner, Kilvinski (George C. Scott). He was a HUGE presence in the film, though he's only in about half the film. Apart from that, Fehler had other partners and a variety of experiences that all pushed him almost over the edge. Dealing with drinking, PTSD and more is what makes this cop film quite unusual--and well worth your time. Exceptionally well made and a film that revels in NOT being like cop films of the 30s, 40s and 50s!! Exceptional acting and writing make this a standout film.

Joseph Wambaugh has written a lot of great books over the four decades of his literary career. My experience with him started in eighth grade in 1972 when I read The New Centurions, a blisteringly honest and terrifying book about the lives of three rookie patrolman in LA during the early 60s. It was easily the most grown-up book I had ever read (my mom thumbed through it and was appalled at the language; yet she let me finish it) and when I got to see the 1972 movie (butchered on NBC in '73 or '74), I had reread it and knew everything the little old ladies with the scissors had hacked out. Even with the obligatory mangling for our living room sensibilities, Richard Fleischer's film is a well-acted and gritty TV-looking version of Wambaugh's great, searing novel.

For the most part, the casting--THE critical step to putting the book on screen--was dead on. Stacy Keach nails Roy Fehler, George C. Scott is a slightly more buff, less urbane Andy Kilvinsky, and Jane Alexander (who is beautiful because she isn't) embodies Fehler's estranged wife, Dorothy). My only complaint is in casting Erik Estrada as Sergio. I know why he was picked--a blonde Hispanic would have confused viewers who had not read the book, but some skilled writing may have gotten the real Sergio across on screen. This is no insult to Estrada. He's hardly on screen, but this was before the excremental CHIPS, the show that ruined his career while making him a household name, and he is quite good for the few minutes we get him.

The problem with The New Centurions is that, since it is designed for mass consumption, it has been rendered more TV cop drama than searing expose of urban policing. It looks authentic, but the color and depth of the images never really fill the wide screen, dooming it to look like it belongs on the small one.

In comparison though, this is a much more successful adaptation of a Wambaugh work than the open-mouthed horror of Robert Aldrich's The Choirboys. That book was even more dark (how Wambaugh was able to make such a brutal novel so funny is still an amazement to me), but the 1977 movie was about as awful--and unfunny--as you could ever hope to miss.

Which, in comparison, makes The New Centurions all the better. Don't get me wrong, TNC is a flawed film, but it is a good one on the whole. I would just, strongly, suggest you read the book--and The Choirboys--first to get the real flavor of one of America's better crime writers (and social critics).

"The New Centurions" should have a solid 8.5 rating, rather than just a 7. This is an under- rated film about the general lives of police officers from a Los Angeles Precinct. George C. Scott and Stacy Keach lead the way as two police officers who are initially teamed up for night duty around Los Angeles. Following a few incidents, they get re-assigned different partners until Stacy Keach is transfered to the vice squad and George C. Scott retires from the force. The film wisely avoids any kind of trendy or glamorous approach to Police work. It is just shown for what it is - a dirty job that someone has to do. The police officers aren't shown to be more heroic than the average person but dedicated and good at their jobs. There is some good action along the way but "The New Centurions" works due to the acting, writing and direction. The recent British DVD release has brilliant sound and picture quality.