Pride and Glory

I saw a screening of "Pride and Glory" last night. It's the kind of American movie you don't see anymore, a throwback to the big themes and dramatic tone of the 1950s, when Elia Kazan was making movies like "East of Eden" and "On the Waterfront," and Arthur Miller was writing plays like "Death of a Salesman" and "All My Sons." Family, honor, corruption, right and wrong, fathers and sons--these are the kinds of issues that director/co-writer Gavin O'Connor is taking on in "Pride and Glory," and in doing so he's made a timeless film. Sincere without being sentimental (much like "Miracle," O'Connor's last effort), "Pride and Glory" gets elbow deep in a corruption scandal that threatens to crack the blue wall of the NYPD and destroy the Tierney family legacy (patriarch Jon Voight, sons Ed Norton and Noah Emmerich, and outlaw brother-in-law Colin Farrell, who has never been better). A muscular, old-school American film, with big themes splashed on a big canvas, "Pride and Glory" is familiar and original at the same time. In the Age of Irony, these are the kinds of movies you rarely see anymore. An honest, gripping drama.

The plot of this movie is the fairly predictable (though always entertaining) idea of the corrupt cops against the good cops and the always-annoying injection of the nosy media. If it had been done by amateur actors, this movie wouldn't have been nearly as good.

Edward Norton was absolutely STUNNING, blew me away. He's always been a favorite of mine but every role he's in continues to amaze me. There a scene where he's talking to a Spanish woman and his expression throughout the scene is the main thing that stuck out to me in the whole movie. There's just something in his eyes that draws you and sucks you in.

Colin Farrell did an amazing job as well, as did Jon Voight. They managed to bring their characters more personality than I expected there to be. Especially Colin. Even though he played a such a bad character, there was something there in the way he was with his family and everything that still made me feel BAD for him.

And though the f-bombs were sometimes distracting and the ending could've had more punch, overall I really liked this movie.

Edward Norton and Colin Ferrell, the automatic great duo, they make a perfect team for a movie like this. They're both great actors and will make any movie worth the watch. So my friends and I watched Pride and Glory a little over a week ago, I was hearing mixed reviews on it, but still, when you love these actors as much as I do, you have to see it. So based on my honest opinion, this is a very good story, but the film just needed better editing, it was a little longer than it should have been. Also I didn't really like the ending, although I know they did it more for the cinematic reasons as people wanna see the bad guys pay for their crimes. But Ed, Colin, and even John Voight make this film very watchable and click right on screen. We've seen a million crooked cop movies, I think we're still looking for one that really stands out, but Pride and Glory holds itself well and is watchable.

Jimmy is a narc who does pretty much all the dirty work when it comes to busting in on drug dealers, hookers, murderers, rapists, etc. One night though he among other cops receive a call that 4 policemen have been killed in a building with drug dealers. Jimmy is trying to figure out what went wrong only to find out that one of the drug dealers had an inside man who called in advance to warn them that the cops were coming. But one of the policemen that he suspects is his brother in-law who does the best he can to justify all that he is doing.

Pride and Glory is a very good story, I'd say though to wait for the rental, but I'm warning you there are some really intense scenes, Colin goes really far in one scene with a baby, I'm a person who has seen every disturbing film known to man, and this scene had my hands over my eyes. If you wanna see this film, you'll see what I'm talking about. There are some shocking lines as well and hurtful, this was just an intense movie and is not for the weak hearted. It's like the more disturbing episode of The Shield in some ways. Ed and Colin work well together and are a great duo, Pride and Glory is a good movie, just needs a little more editing.

7/10

Films revolving around a family of policemen are nothing new. Pride & Glory, starring Norton & Farrell, isn't anything revolutionary in the genre but takes a generally strong storyline and adds some good acting.

Story revolves around a group of cops (led by Farrell) up to their necks in trouble after their corrupt scams have backfired on them, and to cover their backs they need to tread deeper into the mire. On the other hand is Norton (Farrell's brother-in-law) who slowly discovers what's going on, and it all goes helter-skelter.

In many ways in these films they can get a little clichéd and melodramatic, but this film seems conscious of that fact, and in general has strayed away from what it could have been. Nevertheless, its nothing special but still interesting. The main interest is the family politics and dynamics and that should keep your interest with the generally good acting. An enjoyable movie.

In 2008 New York thriller "Pride And Glory" Edward Norton's a cop reluctantly pulled in (by top brass dad Jon Voight) to investigate the shootings of four fellow cops who worked under his bro Noah Emmerich (married to Jennifer Ehle) with hard-ass Colin Farrell (married to his sister Lake Bell), Shia Whigham & Frank Grillo. What unfolds is a rich & finely crafted tale of Irish-American family & NY cop loyalty & corruption, good vs bad, and the blurring of those lines. The drama occasionally slips to melodrama, but co-writer (with Joe Carnahan) / director Gavin O'Connor does an excellent job applying the polish, eliciting great performances & keeping it taut. Terrific film.