Certain directors and actors like to work together and their reunions work as a draw to bring audiences into theaters. A few weekends ago, Leonardo DiCaprio [LDCAP] and Martin Scorsese [MSCOR] who have worked together several times scored their best opening weekend with Shutter Island [SHISL]. This weekend director Antoine Fuqua [AFUQU] once again gives direction to Ethan Hawke [EHAWK] as the two try to recreate the magic of Training Day. Brooklyn’s Finest [BRKLN] boasts an impressive cast of Richard Gere [RGERE], Don Cheadle [DCHEA], Ellen Barkin [EBARK], Wesley Snipes [WSNIP], Lili Taylor [LTAYL] and Vincent D’Onofrio [VDONO]. The film ties together three different stories about members of the Brooklyn Police Department.
Written by first time screenwriter Michael C. Martin, Brooklyn’s Finest features themes favored by Fuqua. Like the protagonist Hawke played in Training Day, Fuqua develops characters who slowly realize the deadly situation they are dealing with. The audience came to realize what kind of man the character played by Denzel Washington [DWASH] was right along with Hawke. The experience to go along with the ride so intimately is what makes films directed Fuqua so entertaining to watch. He raises the notch with Brooklyn’s Finest as three different cops with different careers get tangled up in one deadly situation. The film features a believable gritty atmosphere that colors the characters’ desperate circumstances.
The acting performances are also a draw for the film. Hawke, Gere, Cheadle and Barkin all bring a high level of experience. Gere gets to play a real world character other than a leading man in a sappy romance. No stranger to powerful performances, Cheadle promises excitement with his presence in the cop thriller. The still beautiful Barkin never fails to make a film better with her presence.
Overture is counter-programming Brooklyn’s Finest against the weekend’s big release Alice in Wonderland [ALCNW], which happens to reunite Tim Burton [TBURT} and Johnny Depp [JDEPP]. If you want a good story with suspense and sexy direction ala Fuqua, then make sure you get yourself to the theaters for this one.
Tag(s): LDCAP, MSCOR, SHISL, AFUQU, EHAWK, BRKLN, RGERE, DCHEA, EBARK, WSNIP, LTAYL, VDONO, DWASH, ALCNW, JDEPP