One Good Cop

One thing here is that you'll either get swept up in this delightfully moving family / brutally searing cop drama or think it's manipulative tugging away with its unconvincingly trite plot developments. I would go with the former, but I can see why some might not be entirely taken away by it… especially with its sugar-coated ending.

After the tragic death of his detective partner in their quest to crack down on a new wave drug --- Ice. Artie Lewis and his wife end up looking after the decease's three daughters with the possible intention of adopting them. However they're stretching for money and to keep them they have to find a house than living in their small apartment. Hence the dangerous path Artie decides to take to gain the extra doe to keep everyone together.

The simple minded mixture of two genres is for most part well balanced and organised in not so a black or white fashion, as it bestows a seamy underbelly with the violence packing a punch (plenty of blood and bruises) and the emotional attachment and complexity weight of a couple trying to cope with the responsibility of looking after three children. Hard at first, but it brings them joy. Nevertheless what really lifted this from the standard material were the solid performances. Michael Keaton's likable easy going persona along with a touching Reno Russo was holding it together. Tony Plana held a vicious intensity to his drug-dealer gangster and Kevin Conway was commanding as Lewis' Ltd. Anthony LaPaglia as his former cop partner is affably good and Benjamin Bratt also shows up as one of his fellow officers. Writer / director Heywood Gould (who co-penned the much underrated revenge feature "Rolling Thunder") drills away in what you could say is sturdily workmanlike, building upon the pressures at home and work. Entertaining, if questionable.

MICHAEL KEATON is a great actor hes one of them actors you forget you are watching a movie & think its real life video footage. kinda like NICK NOLTE - GARY OLDMAN - PETER STORMARE but anyways KEATON plays a COP who when his partner is killed in the line of duty who had 3 kids he doesn't want them to be in an orphanage but his house is too small by SOCIAL SERVICES standards to house 3 kids so he robs a drug kingpin who indirectly had something to do with his partners murder so he can buy a bigger house so he can adopt his partners 3 kids & he gives the rest of the money to the orphanage he didn't want his partners 3 kids to go to in order to help the other kids their. they say even criminals have right & a COP is supposed to go by the book but sometimes you gotta just say what the F#@k & do what you gotta do

As usual, Michael Keaton delivers an excellent performance. Whether the scene calls for humor, pathos or action, he's your man every time. I watch his face and body language closely in every one of his films, and he is always up to the demands of every role. He is as good an actor as any of the most celebrated stars, past or present, but is underappreciated. Also note his loyalty (or that of others to him), in employing the same people for assistance in many or most films. This is a guy who will bring you to tears with laughter or sadness, just in the way he portrays the character. His scene in his superior's office when he thought his career (and life as he'd known it) were over, was excellent - subtle, but he brought out how a person in the position would feel. Yes, this is a light movie, but heavy on quality, because of Michael Keaton. I'll continue to watch, enjoy and be amazed at his work, time after time.

This is an excellent movie that surprised me at every turn. It felt like watching someones real life, with up and downs and real decisions. One Good Cop is an uplifting story about a good person with difficult decisions to make. After the death of his partner Keaton and his wife (Rene Russo) are given custody of his three girls. Keaton cannot afford three kids and foster care will split the kids up. The decision that Keaton makes is brutal but for people who are desperate sometimes something brutal is the only solution. I had never heard of this movie before but it has become one of my favorites. Michael Keaton gives a great performance the entire way through. This is a 4 for 4 star movie.

Michael Keaton is good, as usual, in the role of Artie Lewis, an NYPD detective who must endure one of the time-honoured cliches of the cop drama: the death of his partner (Anthony LaPaglia). However, LaPaglia was the single dad to three adorable daughters, and in his will he had given custody of the girls to Artie and his wife (Rene Russo). They do prove to be good parental figures (she'd been unable to bear her own children), but all of the problems facing them (inadequate housing for the new family, and a supposed dearth of funds) prompt Artie to do something crooked for once: rob a drug dealer (an effectively smooth and slimy Tony Plana).

The script by veteran screenwriter Heywood Gould ("Rolling Thunder", "Fort Apache, the Bronx") has its share of problems; not only is it predictable and manipulative, but it's scarcely believable. Too many story twists are hard to buy, especially that ridiculous ending. The film is still reasonably entertaining in a visceral way, and Gould maintains an effective forward momentum; Keaton and his excellent supporting cast are so compulsively watchable that they compensate for a fair bit. "One Good Cop" has some decent action, and violence, and makes good use of some NYC locations.

Keaton is compelling in the lead. While you may not always find his character credible, there's no doubt that the star will always be able to do some true heavy lifting, both comedically and dramatically. The rest of the cast plays like a who's who of Hollywood players: Russo, LaPaglia, Kevin Conway, Rachel Ticotin, Plana, Benjamin Bratt, Charlayne Woodard, Victor Rivers, Mike Hagerty, J.E. Freeman, Kevin Corrigan, Vondie Curtis-Hall, etc.

Highly recommended to Michael Keaton fans, even in light of the flaws.

Six out of 10.