I like to think that The Choirboys is Joseph Wambaugh's way of showing the police at play. His novel The New Centurions showed police at work. In both
cases they work hard they play hard as well and sometimes combine both.
For those who grew up as I did with Dragnet as the way we thought of police The
Choirboys couldn't be father from Jack Webb's straight laced view of cops than
Mercury is to Pluto. This film follows a group of cops who can't share a bond with any other than themselves.
It's a fraternity no doubt and these guys carry on like frat boys. Oddly enough
if you remember Goodfellas Lorraine Bracco observed that the Henry Hills never hung out with anyone other than other criminals and their significant
others.
So much so that the group of them all hang out with Tim McIntire who none of
them can stand. He's a pretty loathsome character, a racist redneck and a bully, still he's one of the guys.
Two of them come to a bad end for differing reasons, all of them are in a jackpot where Chief Robert Webber is looking to nail The Choirboys to the
wall. The oldest of them saves them, but you'll have to see how.
The oldest of them is Charles Durning who at 53 is still on street patrol. He's
basically a non-conforming guy who more than likely screwed up big time when he was young and now just doesn't give a crap. He'd like to just coast
out for his 20 years and he's months away.
The Choirboys is something I'm surprised a police officer as Joseph Wambaugh
was would write. I look at like Jim Bouton's book Ball Four and that less than
reverent book of the New York Yankees in his stay there. This is kind of the
stuff you definitely leave in the clubhouse.
This review is dedicated to my nephew Colin James Kogan who is a member of
the NYPD going now on his third year. I told him that whatever it takes get off
the street as soon as you can and never be Charles Durning when he reaches
middle age.
