Pride and Glory (film): Difference between revisions
m →Plot: Typo fixing, replaced: to lay low → to lie low using AWB |
SOMEONE had to prune this beast. I got it from 5 pages to about 2 before spacing the paragraphs. Not doing that again, but someone should condense this more. |
||
Line 24: | Line 24: | ||
==Plot== |
==Plot== |
||
{{Plot|date=August 2010}} |
{{Plot|date=August 2010}} |
||
The movie |
The movie focuses on a family of 2nd-generation policemen and the corruption pervading their work. Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell) leads the NYPD to victory in police-league football. While everybody is celebrating, Francis Tierney Jr. (Noah Emmerich), who was not playing, answers his phone to find out that several men from their unit have been killed in a deadly confrontation. Along with Ray Tierney (Edward Norton) they rush to the scene and find several dead officers among dead gang-members in a shot-up apartment. Jimmy seems far more stunned than the others, and locks himself in the bathroom. He shatters the mirror while still in his football uniform. Francis Tierney Sr. (Jon Voight), the father of all three officers, pushes Ray to lead the task-force unit investigating the incident. |
||
The next day Ray is observing the crime scene with fellow officers, and finds that there was a suspect who escaped through the back of the apartment, and, after hearing it ring in the snow, finds the suspect's cell phone. There is a potential witness. Speaking Spanish, Ray interviews the boy. Through this he determines that the suspect, Angel Tezo, whose picture the boy identified, was bleeding from the stomach and got into a cab. The boy says the cab drive looked scared as Tezo got into the car. |
|||
Francis Jr. and Ray run to the scene, a shabby apartment with bodies everywhere. An officer is taken out of the apartment on a stretcher as Jimmy runs in from the football game. After seeing all the dead cops he locks himself into a bathroom, crying and breaking the mirror, very upset. Police deputy chief Francis Tierney Sr. ([[Jon Voight]]) is at the scene as well, and makes orders all around. |
|||
Cut to Jimmy (Farrell), Kenny Dugan (Shea Whigham), Reuben "Sandy" Santiago (John Ortiz) and Eddie Carbone (Frank Grillo) in a field with the getaway cab. The driver is dead, Tezo is gone. We find that the four officers investigating the cab here are corrupt, they grieve briefly and acknowledge that while their friends and money is gone, only one can be reclaimed. They set about to find Tezo before Ray (Ed Norton) and the task-force do - failing to do so would expose their corruption. They torch the cab and its dead driver, and leave the scene in their cruisers. |
|||
In the hospital, the officer who was taken in dies. Ray goes into the bathroom and takes some prescription pills. Francis Sr. comes in and talks his son into applying to be on the task force to investigate the murders of the men. |
|||
The next day, Ray goes to the alley where everything happened. He and a fellow task force officer look up the window and know whoever the shooter was, got shot and then ran out. They follow the blood and it stops, so they figure he must have gotten into a car, but they don't know anything more. They find a celular phone in the snow. At this point they have six prime suspects. An officer comes over and asks if anyone speaks Spanish; they have a witness who might have seen something. Ray says he speaks some and they go into a small convenience store where a man is yelling in Spanish. Ray gets him to calm down and gets the wife to take him to the potential witness, a young boy. Ray asks him some questions and they find out the shooter was bleeding from his stomach, and his name is Angel Tezo ([[Ramon Rodriguez]]), and they get a vehicle description. |
|||
Tezo is seen in an apartment getting stitched up while watching television. There are several people present, engaging in drug use and trafficking. After the doctor stitches Tezo up he is shot dead instead of being paid. |
|||
The car is found abandoned in a field. Jimmy and his fellow officers, Kenny Dugan ([[Shea Whigham]]), Reuben "Sandy" Santiago ([[John Ortiz]]) and Eddie Carbone ([[Frank Grillo]]) all examine the car. They piece together the chain of events. The cops were trying to kill Tezo and get some money, but everything went bad and Tezo got away, killed their people and took the money. He also killed the driver. They set out to find and kill Tezo, as he can finger all of them and he knows they are out to kill him. They torch the car and everything inside. |
|||
Ray is reviewing the photos and notices one of the dead gangsters from the crime scene was not wearing a belt, and that his shoelaces were gone. This concerns Ray, since it's likely this means the person was locked up shortly before the incident, which doesn't make sense to Ray yet. |
|||
Tezo gets a doctor to sew up his gut wound in a safehouse while some of his accomplices count the money. When the doctor is done, they hand him some money, but Tezo shoots him. |
|||
Officers arrive where Tezo was being stitched up, and are noticed by his friends while parking their cruiser. Tezo shoots two of his friends, and escapes while his girlfriend runs screaming. Ray interviews her and finds out that Tezo has a friend in the police department, named "Sandy". Ray has the officers who are present to keep this quiet, so he can investigate suspected corruption amongst his brothers and their fellow officers. Later Ray confronts Francis Jr., and shares this information with his older brother, but Francis Jr. lies and says there's no policemen in his division nicknamed "Sandy". Shortly after, Francis Jr. confronts Sandy in the showers. Francis Jr. tells Sandy he's fired after Sandy breaks, telling him that he and the officers in his unit are, in essence, a gang with badges. He says the incident took place because the officers wanted to kill Tezo so they could work with another dealer, but that the hit went bad, with several officers dying and Tezo escaping. Despite being their leader, Francis Jr. seems surprised this behavior has occurred, which surprises Sandy, who thought he'd known all along. Francis fires Sandy. |
|||
While looking at crime scene photos, Ray sees something strange in a photo. He wonders why one of the men who was killed didn't have bootlaces or a belt on. He makes some calls, but doesn't come up with much. |
|||
Jimmy is home with his wife and kids, and is confronted by the dealer Casado, who had paid Jimmy and his squad to kill Tezo, so that they could start working for him. After a heated encounter, Casado walks to his Bentley GT while telling Jimmy that he is going to be killed. |
|||
It's Christmas (the next day) and Ray goes up to a townhouse and drops off a small gift on the porch. As he leaves, the door opens and it's Ray's wife ([[Carmen Ejogo]]). They are estranged, and it is revealed they are one month away from divorce. |
|||
Fearing both Casado and the task-force, Jimmy and the other corrupt officers rush to find and kill Tezo. Jimmy and another officer find that Tezo's cousin is in town. After breaking the door down and beating him, they learn where Tezo is. While this was happening, Ray also finds out where Tezo is (from an old confidential informant/junky). Ray arrives to find the corrupt officers are nearly done torturing Tezo to death. When Ray (Norton) opposes this, an officer shoots Tezo dead. Ray realizes his step-brother Jimmy used his gun to execute Tezo, to make it look like Ray was the one who fired. Ray attacks Jimmy, but realizes he cannot do much as it was his gun that killed Tezo. He calls his older brother, Francis Jr., to tell him their half-brother Jimmy just tortured Tezo to death, and then framed him for it. |
|||
Eddie and Sandy go to a convenience store and get everyone out and pistol whip the cashier until he tells them some information (and admits he knows) about Tezo. The man is given 24 hours to get information or they'll kill him. Eddie shows how unstable he is when he puts a gun to the man's head and fires, but it's empty. They then pop the register and take all his money as well. |
|||
Francis Jr. is torn between his job and his family; his dying wife encourages him to do what is right, even if it means all this corruption happened under Francis Jr.'s watch, with some of it committed by his half-brother Jimmy. |
|||
Francis Jr. converses with his terminally ill wife, Abby ([[Jennifer Ehle]]). He asks her if she's sure she wants to do this party. She says she wouldn't miss it for anything. Downstairs there is a lot of cooking going on, Francis Sr. is very drunk and the kids are running around wanting to open presents. Upstairs, Francis Jr. gives Abby a ring, and tells his wife he will love her forever. They go downstairs as Jimmy and his wife and family come in and everyone begins opening presents. At the dinner table, Francis Sr. is very drunk and starts praising his children, saying that Ray was always the brains: "he was the thinker, he solved problems. And that's what he does now as an adult, he solves problems." Francis Jr., he says, is a leader of men: "people always listened to Franny." About his daughter, Megan, he says "she had a heart as big as the whole world and she became a nurse." He doesn't say much about Jimmy (son-in-law.) It becomes very awkward and quiet at the table. Francis and Jimmy have a quiet talk in the hall about what is going on. Jimmy says he'll have it under control. |
|||
Sandy, having been fired, calls a reporter to do an expose on the corrupt officers. The reporter meets him in a parking lot. Sandy spills everything to the reporter before shooting himself in the head. The next day the newspaper proclaims "Corrupt Cop Cashes-Out". |
|||
Another shooting takes place at the house where we first saw Tezo. Tezo's girlfriend is interrogated by Ray, and she eventually reveals (after Ray threatens to take her kid away) Tezo was tipped off by a guy called Sandy in the police department. Ray says nothing to the detectives on the scene about the information and walks out. |
|||
Both the good and bad officers work to pin this corruption on the four dead policemen from the initial crime scene, along with the now-dead Sandy. |
|||
There is a large funeral procession for the dead officers. Francis Jr. is the C.O. After, Ray catches up to him and starts grilling him on what might be going on in his Division. A heated argument ensues when Ray says Tezo's girl dropped a name, "Sandy," a police officer. Tezo's phone was called by people outside, so someone knew about the bust. Ray asks him if there is anyone who goes by that nickname in his department. Francis Jr. denies there is anyone. Ray and Francis Jr. part tensely. Later that evening, Francis Sr. meets Ray on the boat and asks what happened with him and his brother. Ray explains what he thinks might be going on and his father says to "sit on it and see what really happens before stirring up a mess, after all you have to protect your own". Ray obviously doesn't like it, but his father orders him and Ray reluctantly agrees. |
|||
Francis Jr. confronts Jimmy in the bar they all go to. Jimmy is surprised that Francis Jr. is mad, and presumed he already knew what was happening. Francis Jr. admits he allowed Jimmy and the officers some leeway, but is furious at how far they took the corruption. He also tells Jimmy there's no way he'll let him frame Ray for murdering Tezo. Francis is appalled that, after becoming their step-brother, that Jimmy got them into this situation. Jimmy offers Francis "his cut". Francis Jr refuses and leaves. |
|||
Francis Jr. confronts Sandy in the police showers and kicks everyone else out. Sandy, in turn, starts crying in remorse. He tells Francis Jr. that Jimmy has been dealing drugs and has been involved in planned executions, and that he wanted Tezo dead so he could start working with Casado ([[Rick Gonzalez]]). Francis is shocked when he hears what his brother-in-law has been up to. Sandy says he thought Francis knew everything; as everyone knew about it. Francis Jr. tells Sandy to give up his badge and gun immediately and never to say anything or come by again or his pension will be gone too. Sandy tells Francis Jr. the force is all he has, Francis Jr. says Sandy doesn't have that anymore. After Francis Jr. leaves, Sandy slumps down on the shower floor, crying. |
|||
Ray, in a room with internal affairs investigators, tells them the statement isn't going to go how they want it to. He tells them that he was not the one who shot Tezo. He repeatedly refuses to tell them which officer did pull the trigger, protecting his half-brother Jimmy (and his older brother Francis' dept.). |
|||
Abby looks at her children and cries, because she's dying and she's going to leave them. She hears the car pull up. Francis Jr. is sitting the car and is upset, not moving for a while as his wife tries to stop crying upstairs. |
|||
Francis Sr., a long-time police veteran, is shown privileged testimony regarding Tezo's murder. He sees Jimmy's interview tape, in which Jimmy reluctantly tells the investigators that he witnessed Ray shoot Tezo. Francis Sr. and Ray speak, Francis Sr telling Ray to go along with it, hoping to protect the department. Ray refuses his father's command. |
|||
Jimmy and his wife play with their kids. The doorbell rings and a gangbanger looking person is at the door asking for Jimmy. Jimmy comes up and orders the guy out back. Jimmy's wife is very nervous about what is going on. The man is Casado and he's upset with Jimmy not keeping up his part of the deal to kill Tezo. He asks if Jimmy is slipping and Jimmy pins him to a wall, saying he's going to take care of it and threatens Casado if he ever comes near his place or family again. |
|||
Despite Francis Sr. wanting his children to go along with Jimmy's story, he finds that Francis Jr. intends to come clean, against his father's wishes. |
|||
Jimmy calls his crew and they find out Tezo's right hand man is in town and they bust down the door and break up their dinner. They throw the man to the floor and beat him, but he won't say where Tezo is. Finally, they push his wife down and take his infant, holding it against the ironing board. Jimmy tells Kenny to call in a child services call for baby with a disfigured face. He takes the hot iron and starts to move it closer to the child's face. The mother screams for the man to tell him what the police want to know. Eventually, he reveals where Tezo is and Jimmy leaves, giving the baby back to the mother, unharmed. |
|||
Two members of Jimmy's corrupt crew go to a liquor store, intending to quickly rob it, as they are out of cash and drugs, due to all of the heat on their division. It goes badly, with one of the two being killed, the other holding the store-owner hostage as both police and local gangsters looking on. |
|||
Ray tracks down one of his old CIs, a junkie, and after taking his stash and destroying some of it, his stoolie tells him where Tezo is. |
|||
Francis Jr. and Ray speak on the phone, they decide to split up to each situation. Francis Jr. goes to the liquor store to talk his officer out of holding the owner hostage, while Ray confronts Jimmy at their bar. Ray orders everyone out. After confronting Jimmy, Ray gets into a fight with him, and emerges victorious. With Francis Jr. successfully getting the officer to release his hostage and get in the cruiser, the two brothers diffused both situations. |
|||
Ray calls in the location and tells the task force to get there. When he arrives outside the building, he starts scoping it out, but hears some gunshots. He calls for backup and starts going up the stairs, scared tenants are pointing him upwards. Finally he gets to the floor and sees a dead body and hears some screaming and yelling. Ray looks to find Tezo in a bathtub with Jimmy standing over him, shoving a nightstick down his throat. Ray yells at all of them and pulls the nightstick out of the man's throat and says he's still alive and to get help. Jimmy pulls Ray's gun out of Ray's holster and shoots Tezo three times in the chest. He hands the gun back and says Ray will say he was first on scene and shot the bastard who killed four cops. Ray asks if he's insane, and Jimmy pushes him against a wall and says they're all cops, so just go with the story. Ray and Francis Jr. are outside of Ray's boathouse and Ray is very upset, telling Francis what happened and asking him why Francis lied about knowing Sandy. Francis asks what Ray is going to do and Ray doesn't say much, wanting to get the blood off him and walks to the boathouse. |
|||
Tezo's cousin is among the people in the streets, everyone furious that Tezo was brutally tortured before dying, all the while the policemen are free. When Ray is walking a hand-cuffed Jimmy to his cruiser, the crowd surrounds them looking for vigilante justice. Jimmy asks Ray to give him his weapon back, Ray refuses. Jimmy, finally giving into his circumstances, allows himself to be beaten to death by Tezo's cousin, while the mob holds Ray back. |
|||
Francis Jr. is pouring a bath for his wife and Abby can tell he's upset. She asks him what's going on and he's silent. She begs him not to start with this now. Francis Jr. says he's in really deep and doesn't know what to do and he's scared. Abby looks shocked (and very sick) and asks if there is any way to make it right. Francis Jr. says no way. It won't bring everything he's worked for crumbling down. Abby replies she knows he's a good man and she trusts him and trusts him with her children. She wants him to continue to be a good man for them. Francis Jr. replies he has Abby's back. |
|||
Ray staggers away from the mob and his dead step-brother, to the diffused hostage scene at the liquor store. Francis Jr. and Ray get in a cruiser and drive off. |
|||
Meanwhile, inside a newspaper room, there are all sorts of theories going around and the fact Tezo's mouth was busted in and apparently there were splinters in his throat is circulating. This is big news. A call comes in for a reporter and he takes it, a man wants to meet. They meet in the rain and cold in a parking lot and the person who called in was a very disheveled looking Sandy. The reporter hides a tape recorder under his seat and tells Sandy no recording devices are around when Sandy gets into the back seat of his car. Sandy doesn't mention names but says 'everyone' is on it. They sold their shields to the highest bidder. They killed people, dealt drugs and took payouts. He wanted to be a good cop, to protect and serve and to have pride in his job and in the blue uniform. But it all turned bad. The reporter tries to tell Sandy he can make a story out of this, get the truth out, but Sandy puts a white cloth over his head and shoots himself, splattering blood on the rear windshield. |
|||
The film ends with Ray, Francis Jr. and Francis Sr. about to give testimony, presumably the truth now that Jimmy is dead and Francis Jr.'s Dept.'s corruption is obvious. |
|||
Press conference and the police are pinning the 'vigilante' problem on the four officers already dead and Sandy. Francis Jr. is confronted by Francis Sr. who asks his son how much he knew. Francis Jr. replies he knew enough. His father expresses huge distaste and starts chiding his son when Francis Jr. breaks in that his father must have had a time where push came to shove. His father replies he never took a payout and his son looks shocked saying he never, ever took money either. He then leaves, saying he has things to do, leaving his father looking distraught. |
|||
Ray picks up some street vendor food. A person is tailing him. Ray walks a bit more and then confronts the tail. It's the reporter. The reporter says he knows what happened and implies Ray is a pretty good cop. However, he knew Ray lied in a case a few years back to protect other cops (this is what is being referred to at the beginning when Ray had a small breakdown.) He tells Ray he just wants the truth to come out about the people in his older brother's division, not bring Ray down. Ray leaves, very angry and upset. |
|||
In a bar, Francis Jr. comes in looking for Jimmy and they go into the men's room. Francis Jr. asks Jimmy what is going on and Jimmy says he's doing what Francis Jr. told him to. The collars are up, the crime is down. Francis Jr. says he knows that, and he never minded if Jimmy had to pad his income a little, but this was totally out of hand. He also says if Jimmy thinks Ray is going to just turn over and lie to the IAB (Internal Affairs Bureau) he's wrong. Ray wouldn't do something like that. Jimmy tries to give Francis Jr. a bunch of money saying it was 'his part of all the takes', but Francis Jr. just stares at the money and then leaves. Jimmy sees things crumbling and looks distraught. |
|||
Ray gets woken up in his boathouse with a call saying he needs to give his statement to the IAB. Ray doesn't want to, he thought he had more time, but he goes in. There are tons of reporters outside as well as protesters who learned Tezo was brutalized, teeth were found in his stomach and a lot of other nasty things. Ray and the IAB all shake hands, the men obviously respect him a lot. When asked what happened, Ray pauses for a long time and tells them this isn't going to go how they want it to. He says he was not the one who shot Tezo, but won't say who it was who shot him. He then respectfully declines (over and over) to make any further statement. It's the only way he can be true to himself and to the department. Francis Sr. is seeing video of Jimmy saying Ray killed Tezo and is lying. Another high up person in the department is saying all these other officers are willing to testify that is exactly how it happened. Ray is being set up and Francis Sr. says his son wouldn't ever have killed anyone like that. He walks out of the office where he's watching the videos. |
|||
Ray and Francis Sr. have a fight about what Ray should do now. It vacillates a lot, but Francis Sr. just wants the department not to take a fall. Ray is still burnt up about the lie he was told to tell by his father to save the department years ago and refuses to do it again. He can't. Francis Sr's wife even comes in, but is driven out with yells from her husband. Francis Sr. is on his way to ordering Ray to lie about what happened and follow Jimmy's original story when Francis Jr. comes in and tells his father to stop. He is going to tell everything he knows about the corruption in his division (which he started) and will work with Ray to clear everything up. First, they are going to find Jimmy. Jimmy is in a bar called Irish Eyes and Francis Jr and Ray head there. |
|||
Kenny and Eddie are in a car driving. Eddie says he needs some money, but Kenny says they need to lie low, citing Jimmy told them to. Eddie says that doesn't pay his rent and goes into the convenience store and tries to rob it again. He gets shot. People start looking around and some gangbangers start noticing the ruckus. Kenny runs in and sees a man holding something and shoots him, but it's just a cell phone. Kenny starts to panic, knowing he has a serious problem now. Some of the gang members who are very upset about the police murders which have been hitting the press, start to smash up the car and throw things at the store. Kenny locks the store and tries to get out, but the police at the back exit too. He holes up and uses the owner as a hostage. |
|||
Francis Jr. gets the call about Kenny and Ray says he'll take care of Jimmy and Francis Jr. needs to take care of the Kenny / hostage situation. Kenny is frantically calling Jimmy, asking how to get out of the mess. It's implied Jimmy isn't answering his phone. Francis Jr. goes up to the door and talks Kenny down and gets him to open up the door, saying he just wants to help. |
|||
Francis Sr. gets a call from an officer who is looking for Ray to arrest him. Francis Sr. says (honestly) Ray isn't there even though his car is outside. The detective/officer asks to come in, Francis Sr. refuses. |
|||
Jimmy is sitting at the bar, looking at pictures of his wife and kids, drinking and depressed. Ray comes in, flashes his badge and orders everyone out. Ray says they are going to make things right, holding a gun on Jimmy and tells him to put his gun on the bar. They both put their gun, badges and cuffs on the bar and prepare to duke it out, with whoever wins, taking the other one in. They fight, knocking down tables and chairs and flinging each other onto the bar, scattering Jimmy's photos of his family. Finally, they land on a pool table and things are looking rough for Ray until he grabs the cue ball and beans Jimmy twice with it. Jimmy falls to the ground, dazed and Ray falls with him, hurt, but better off. |
|||
Francis Jr. has talked Kenny down and gets him out of the store and into a car and away. Meanwhile the whole neighbourhood is up in arms because of the police problems. One of the ringleaders who is getting everyone riled up is Tezo's right hand man who almost got his kid burnt up by Jimmy. When they see Kenny get taken away, the crowd starts to disperse, but is still pretty angry. |
|||
Ray has Jimmy in cuffs and is taking him to where the standoff was happening (just a few blocks away) when the crowd starts coming towards him. They want Jimmy. The Tezo right hand man REALLY wants him. They pull Jimmy away from Ray and hold Ray, not having beef with him. Jimmy looks towards Ray and tells him to tell his wife he loves her. They have armed Jimmy with a baseball bat and the other man has a crowbar. Jimmy realizes it is the end and drops the baseball bat. The man hits him over the head with the crowbar and Ray is screaming and struggling and they punch him one to shut him up while the rest of the gang all beat Jimmy to death. |
|||
Ray staggers to the hostage scene, which is winding down. Francis Jr., while talking to a superior, sees him and walks away to tend to his brother. Music plays over the words, but it is obvious Ray is telling his brother what happened with Jimmy. They get into a car and drive off. Ray, Francis Jr. and Francis Sr. are all in full dress uniform in a car, pulling up to a courthouse. There are reporters everywhere. They all look at each other and get out of the car together, all three going up the stairs, into the courthouse and in the reflection of the revolving door the final shots are of them shaking the hands of the prosecutors/investigator/bigwigs and then presumably going in to testify. |
|||
==Cast== |
==Cast== |
Revision as of 00:06, 3 March 2011
Pride and Glory | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Gavin O'Connor |
Written by | Gavin O'Connor Joe Carnahan |
Produced by | Josh Fagin Gregory O'Connor |
Starring | Edward Norton Colin Farrell Jon Voight Noah Emmerich |
Cinematography | Declan Quinn |
Edited by | Lisa Zeno Churgin John Gilroy |
Music by | Mark Isham |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. New Line Cinema |
Release date |
|
Running time | 130 minutes |
Countries | Template:FilmUS Template:Film Germany |
Language | English |
Budget | $30 million |
Box office | $43,440,721[1] |
Pride and Glory is a 2008 crime drama film directed by Gavin O'Connor. It stars Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, and Noah Emmerich. The film was released on October 24, 2008, in the United States.
Deputy Chief Francis Tierney (Jon Voight) is the head of a multigenerational police family, which includes his sons Francis, Jr. (Noah Emmerich), Ray (Edward Norton), and his son-in-law James Egan (Colin Farrell) all being police officers. When four of Francis Jr.'s guys are killed during a shootout turned bad, everything looks straight initially. However, Ray, who is assigned to the investigation, soon discovers something more sinister.[2]
Plot
![]() | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (August 2010) |
The movie focuses on a family of 2nd-generation policemen and the corruption pervading their work. Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell) leads the NYPD to victory in police-league football. While everybody is celebrating, Francis Tierney Jr. (Noah Emmerich), who was not playing, answers his phone to find out that several men from their unit have been killed in a deadly confrontation. Along with Ray Tierney (Edward Norton) they rush to the scene and find several dead officers among dead gang-members in a shot-up apartment. Jimmy seems far more stunned than the others, and locks himself in the bathroom. He shatters the mirror while still in his football uniform. Francis Tierney Sr. (Jon Voight), the father of all three officers, pushes Ray to lead the task-force unit investigating the incident.
The next day Ray is observing the crime scene with fellow officers, and finds that there was a suspect who escaped through the back of the apartment, and, after hearing it ring in the snow, finds the suspect's cell phone. There is a potential witness. Speaking Spanish, Ray interviews the boy. Through this he determines that the suspect, Angel Tezo, whose picture the boy identified, was bleeding from the stomach and got into a cab. The boy says the cab drive looked scared as Tezo got into the car.
Cut to Jimmy (Farrell), Kenny Dugan (Shea Whigham), Reuben "Sandy" Santiago (John Ortiz) and Eddie Carbone (Frank Grillo) in a field with the getaway cab. The driver is dead, Tezo is gone. We find that the four officers investigating the cab here are corrupt, they grieve briefly and acknowledge that while their friends and money is gone, only one can be reclaimed. They set about to find Tezo before Ray (Ed Norton) and the task-force do - failing to do so would expose their corruption. They torch the cab and its dead driver, and leave the scene in their cruisers.
Tezo is seen in an apartment getting stitched up while watching television. There are several people present, engaging in drug use and trafficking. After the doctor stitches Tezo up he is shot dead instead of being paid.
Ray is reviewing the photos and notices one of the dead gangsters from the crime scene was not wearing a belt, and that his shoelaces were gone. This concerns Ray, since it's likely this means the person was locked up shortly before the incident, which doesn't make sense to Ray yet.
Officers arrive where Tezo was being stitched up, and are noticed by his friends while parking their cruiser. Tezo shoots two of his friends, and escapes while his girlfriend runs screaming. Ray interviews her and finds out that Tezo has a friend in the police department, named "Sandy". Ray has the officers who are present to keep this quiet, so he can investigate suspected corruption amongst his brothers and their fellow officers. Later Ray confronts Francis Jr., and shares this information with his older brother, but Francis Jr. lies and says there's no policemen in his division nicknamed "Sandy". Shortly after, Francis Jr. confronts Sandy in the showers. Francis Jr. tells Sandy he's fired after Sandy breaks, telling him that he and the officers in his unit are, in essence, a gang with badges. He says the incident took place because the officers wanted to kill Tezo so they could work with another dealer, but that the hit went bad, with several officers dying and Tezo escaping. Despite being their leader, Francis Jr. seems surprised this behavior has occurred, which surprises Sandy, who thought he'd known all along. Francis fires Sandy.
Jimmy is home with his wife and kids, and is confronted by the dealer Casado, who had paid Jimmy and his squad to kill Tezo, so that they could start working for him. After a heated encounter, Casado walks to his Bentley GT while telling Jimmy that he is going to be killed.
Fearing both Casado and the task-force, Jimmy and the other corrupt officers rush to find and kill Tezo. Jimmy and another officer find that Tezo's cousin is in town. After breaking the door down and beating him, they learn where Tezo is. While this was happening, Ray also finds out where Tezo is (from an old confidential informant/junky). Ray arrives to find the corrupt officers are nearly done torturing Tezo to death. When Ray (Norton) opposes this, an officer shoots Tezo dead. Ray realizes his step-brother Jimmy used his gun to execute Tezo, to make it look like Ray was the one who fired. Ray attacks Jimmy, but realizes he cannot do much as it was his gun that killed Tezo. He calls his older brother, Francis Jr., to tell him their half-brother Jimmy just tortured Tezo to death, and then framed him for it.
Francis Jr. is torn between his job and his family; his dying wife encourages him to do what is right, even if it means all this corruption happened under Francis Jr.'s watch, with some of it committed by his half-brother Jimmy.
Sandy, having been fired, calls a reporter to do an expose on the corrupt officers. The reporter meets him in a parking lot. Sandy spills everything to the reporter before shooting himself in the head. The next day the newspaper proclaims "Corrupt Cop Cashes-Out".
Both the good and bad officers work to pin this corruption on the four dead policemen from the initial crime scene, along with the now-dead Sandy.
Francis Jr. confronts Jimmy in the bar they all go to. Jimmy is surprised that Francis Jr. is mad, and presumed he already knew what was happening. Francis Jr. admits he allowed Jimmy and the officers some leeway, but is furious at how far they took the corruption. He also tells Jimmy there's no way he'll let him frame Ray for murdering Tezo. Francis is appalled that, after becoming their step-brother, that Jimmy got them into this situation. Jimmy offers Francis "his cut". Francis Jr refuses and leaves.
Ray, in a room with internal affairs investigators, tells them the statement isn't going to go how they want it to. He tells them that he was not the one who shot Tezo. He repeatedly refuses to tell them which officer did pull the trigger, protecting his half-brother Jimmy (and his older brother Francis' dept.).
Francis Sr., a long-time police veteran, is shown privileged testimony regarding Tezo's murder. He sees Jimmy's interview tape, in which Jimmy reluctantly tells the investigators that he witnessed Ray shoot Tezo. Francis Sr. and Ray speak, Francis Sr telling Ray to go along with it, hoping to protect the department. Ray refuses his father's command.
Despite Francis Sr. wanting his children to go along with Jimmy's story, he finds that Francis Jr. intends to come clean, against his father's wishes.
Two members of Jimmy's corrupt crew go to a liquor store, intending to quickly rob it, as they are out of cash and drugs, due to all of the heat on their division. It goes badly, with one of the two being killed, the other holding the store-owner hostage as both police and local gangsters looking on.
Francis Jr. and Ray speak on the phone, they decide to split up to each situation. Francis Jr. goes to the liquor store to talk his officer out of holding the owner hostage, while Ray confronts Jimmy at their bar. Ray orders everyone out. After confronting Jimmy, Ray gets into a fight with him, and emerges victorious. With Francis Jr. successfully getting the officer to release his hostage and get in the cruiser, the two brothers diffused both situations.
Tezo's cousin is among the people in the streets, everyone furious that Tezo was brutally tortured before dying, all the while the policemen are free. When Ray is walking a hand-cuffed Jimmy to his cruiser, the crowd surrounds them looking for vigilante justice. Jimmy asks Ray to give him his weapon back, Ray refuses. Jimmy, finally giving into his circumstances, allows himself to be beaten to death by Tezo's cousin, while the mob holds Ray back.
Ray staggers away from the mob and his dead step-brother, to the diffused hostage scene at the liquor store. Francis Jr. and Ray get in a cruiser and drive off. The film ends with Ray, Francis Jr. and Francis Sr. about to give testimony, presumably the truth now that Jimmy is dead and Francis Jr.'s Dept.'s corruption is obvious.
Cast
- Edward Norton as Ray Tierney[3]
- Colin Farrell as Jimmy Egan[3]
- Jon Voight as Francis Tierney Sr. Nick Nolte was originally cast in the role, but after a chronic knee injury became too severe, he was unable to perform and was replaced by Voight.[3]
- Noah Emmerich as Francis Tierney Jr. Emmerich had previously starred in Gavin O'Connor's Tumbleweeds and Miracle.[4]
The film also features Shea Whigham;[5] Frank Grillo and John Ortiz as police officers;[6][7] Manny Perez;[8] Lake Bell;[9] Rick Gonzalez;[10] Christina Cabot,[11] Jennifer Ehle as Francis' wife, Abby, and Declan Quinn. Quinn said the biggest challenge was "[trying] to find a fresh way to do a police drama where it feels real and not like something we've seen a hundred times before."[12]
Production
Gavin O'Connor and his brother Gregory began writing the film with New York City police officer Robert A. Hopes in 1999, after the completion of Tumbleweeds. The brothers, whose father was a police officer, were given "rare" access to the police department and its officers.[13] Gavin O'Connor described their intent: "My father was a New York City detective, and I grew up in that world. It's a birthday bash of honest cops, which was everything my father was about. Though it is fictional, it is an homage to my father."[4] They also hoped to create a film which evoked those of the 1970s, using corruption in the police force, as a metaphor for wider institutional corruption.[14] The script was optioned in June 2000 by Fine Line Features, a subdivision of New Line Cinema, and Joe Carnahan was hired to rewrite the script. Production on the film was expected to begin later in 2000, with Gavin O'Connor directing and Gregory O'Connor producing.[13]
In 2001, the project was subject to a turnaround deal, which saw the rights ceded to Intermedia. Production was expected to start in February 2002 in New York City, and Mark Wahlberg and Hugh Jackman were in talks to star.[15] The film's development was subject to further delays until 2005. Carnahan cited the September 11, 2001 attacks as the primary reason for the delay: "There was a moment after 9/11, where the notion of doing what might be deemed an anti-cop film, particularly an attack of the NYPD, would be grounds for hanging."[16]
In September 2005, the rights were once more with New Line Cinema. Production president Toby Emmerich had been a fan of the script for several years, and the studio entered negotiations with Norton, Farrell and Emmerich to star.[4] Production was set to begin in New York City in January 2006,[4] though principal photography did not begin until the following month.[17]
Release
Pride and Glory was originally scheduled for release on March 14, 2008, and trailers for the film appeared, with showings of No Country for Old Men, Atonement, and American Gangster.[14] In January 2008, New Line announced that it was pushing back the release until 2009, citing both Norton and Farrell's 2008 releases of The Incredible Hulk, and In Bruges respectively.[18] The studio has not commented further on the delay, which angered O'Connor. He blamed internal New Line politics for the delay, specifically chairman Bob Shaye, saying, "I don't think [Shaye] believes in it, and he's decided he'll only release [sure bet] films. He never had the decency to call me." O'Connor has said he will withhold delivery of his next script for New Line, Warrior, until he discovered the film's fate, and also looked at the possibility of taking the film to another studio. In February 2008, O'Connor held a screening at the headquarters of talent agency CAA, in order to publicize that the film may need a new distributor.[14]
O'Connor said of the situation, "We've delivered something special and unique, a film that's not for everybody but has something to say. We're all heartbroken." Norton blamed a wider industry "paralysis" for the problems, rather than New Line Cinema: "We're a victim of the moment, and I just hope they will either find a way to give the film its due or graciously let us do it with someone else." Farrell said he believed in the film and called the situation "bizarre".[14]
Reception
Critical reaction
The film was eventually released on October 24, 2008 in United States. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 34 percent of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 140 reviews, with the critical consensus being that the film is "Formulaic in its plotting and clichéd in its dialogue, Pride and Glory did little to distinguish itself from other police procedurals."[19]
Box office
As of January 28, 2009, the film has grossed $43,440,721 worldwide.[20] In North America, the film opened at #5 with $6,262,396 behind High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Saw V, Max Payne, and Beverly Hills Chihuahua,[21] respectively, from 2,585 theaters with a $2,423 average.
Soundtrack
The film's original score was composed by Mark Isham.
References
- ^ "PRIDE AND GLORY". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 22, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Pride and Glory — Story". New Line Cinema. Retrieved January 9, 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ a b c Fleming, Michael (March 12, 2006). "Inside Move: Studios leg it after injuries sideline stars". Variety. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ a b c d Fleming, Michael (September 26, 2005). "New Line has 'Pride'". Variety. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Dodd, Stacey (February 20, 2006). "Shea Whigham". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Dodd, Stacy (February 22, 2006). "Frank Grillo". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Dodd, Stacy (March 6, 2006). "John Ortiz". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Dodd, Stacey (April 5, 2006). "Manny Perez". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Gardner, Chris (July 24, 2006). "'Fiance' engages thesps". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Dodd, Stacy (August 28, 2006). "Rick Gonzalez". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Dodd, Stacy (July 15, 2006). "Christina Cabot". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Marks, Josh (January 8, 2006). "Breakfast on Pluto". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ a b Lyons, Charles (June 26, 2000). "Fine Line options cop story 'Pride'". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ a b c d Fleming, Michael (February 26, 2008). "Pride and Glory' delay stirs up fray". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Harris, Dana, Dunkley, Cathy (November 8, 2001). "'Pride' goeth at Intermedia". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Lesnick, Silas (October 31, 2007). "IESB Exclusive: 12 Questions with Smokin' Joe Carnahan". IESB.net. Retrieved January 9, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ Fleming, Michael (November 14, 2005). "Driver in pilot seat for Eye spy skein". Variety. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ McClintock, Pamela (January 17, 2008). "New Line postpones 'Inkheart' release". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Pride and Glory". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 22, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Pride and Glory". The Numbers. Retrieved July 13, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Weekend Box Office Results from 10/24 to 10/26". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help)