BROOKLYN'S FINEST
Year: 2009
USA: Overture Films
UK: Momentum Pictures
Cast: Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Will Patton, Lili Taylor, Shannon Kane, Ellen Barkin, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jesse Williams, Brian F O'Byrne, Vincent D'Onofrio, Wass Stevens, Armando Riesco, Wade Allain-Marcus, Logan Marshall-Green
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Country: USA
USA: 140 mins
UK: 133 mins
USA Rated: R for bloody violence throughout, strong sexuality, nudity, drug content and pervasive language
UK Certificate: 18 contains strong bloody violence, sex and nudity
USA Release Date: 5 March 2010
UK Release Date: 9 June 2010
Synopsis
"This is war. This is Brooklyn."
Don Cheadle, Richard Gere and Ethan Hawke are BROOKLYN'S FINEST. This gritty urban thriller follows three doomed New York police officers, each trying to overcome their own demons whilst working in the city's most dangerous precinct run by ruthless drug-running gangsters. During one chaotic week, the lives of three conflicted New York City police officer are irrevocably transformed by their involvement in a huge drug operation.
Detective Salvatore "Sal" Procida (Ethan Hawke), desperate for money to feed and house his rapidly growing family, has started pocketing the money left on the table during drug raids. Deeply religious, he finds that he's in the bad place of trying to reconcile his misdeeds with his needs. The mould in the walls of his home is making his wife (Lili Taylor) ill and endangering the life of his unborn twins. And the down payment on his coveted new, bigger house is past due. He is determined to provide his long-suffering wife and seven children with a better life.
Officer Eddie Dugan (Richard Gere) is a week from retirement after twenty-two years of less-than-exemplary service to the force when he's assigned to oversee rookies in the tough neighbourhoods. His life in shambles, Eddie is barely hanging on, swilling whiskey in the morning to get out of bed. His only friend is a prostitute he frequents.
Undercover operative Clarence 'Tango' Butler (Don Cheadle) is beginning to blur the lines between his loyalties to the police and his pseudo-character, currently in league with Caz (Wesley Snipes), one of Brooklyn's notorious drug dealers. Begging for a promotion and a desk job, he's finally offered a way out but it means betraying close friend and known gangster, Caz.
Launching NYPD's Operation Clean Up that targets a well known drug ridden BK housing project, the three police officers are caught up in the violence and corruption of Brooklyn's 65th Precinct and its dangerous criminals. Eddie, Sal and Tango are never destined to meet but over seven days, they inexorably spiral towards an organised drug raid that leads them to the same fatal crime scene...
Acclaimed filmmaker Antoine Fugua (TRAINING DAY) directs BROOKLYN'S FINEST, a scorching new crime thriller which also features Wesley Snipes, Ellen Barkin, Will Patton and Shannon Kane.