Enough Already!by gradyharp

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January 31, 2009: The current glut of good cop/bad cop movies has drained all the energy of future similar stories and PRIDE AND GLORY is as good example of this satiated appetite as they come. Despite some riveting performances by a group of some of our better actors - Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, Noah Emmerich and Jennifer Ehle - the very obvious committee written (Joe Carnahan, Gavin O'Connor, Gregory O'Connor and Robert Hopes) story and screenplay simply falls apart at every gross killing and murder scene. Gavin O'Connor's direction fails to propel the action in a credible manner, allowing incidental sidebars that add nothing except hole patching to the film.

The story is so overused that a synopsis is unnecessary: an Irish family of cops stumbles along the way of law and order, falling into the business of stealing and murder to cover their misdeeds, until one of the brothers has the courage to 'go straight' to make amends for his own past infractions.

One of the early distractions in viewing this film about contemporary New York crime and law enforcement foibles is a soundtrack that buries the dialogue. It is doubtful that the viewer can even follow the story without the help of English subtitles to compensate for the inaudible spoken word, but then so often the script is so weak that perhaps this is not a flaw but a benefit. This is a film for those who deeply admire the work of the main actors, but brace yourselves for a film that in the end is simply annoying. Grady Harp

This review was written about the DVD Digital Copy Special Edition / Wide Screen edition.