One Good Cop
| One Good Cop | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for the film | |
| Directed by | Heywood Gould |
| Written by | Heywood Gould |
| Produced by | Laurence Mark |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ralf D. Bode |
| Edited by | Richard Marks |
| Music by | David Foster William Ross |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 114 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4,000,000 |
| Box office | $11,276,846 |
One Good Cop is a 1991 American crime drama film written and directed by Heywood Gould and starring Michael Keaton, Rene Russo, Anthony LaPaglia and Benjamin Bratt.
Plot
Artie Lewis (Keaton) is an NYPD detective who believes in his work, loves his wife Rita (Russo), and is close to his partner Stevie Diroma (LaPaglia), a widower with three young daughters. After a hard, violent encounter in a project while on duty, Artie and Stevie reassure each other that, although battered and bruised, they are "still alive."
Stevie is then killed in the line of duty by Mickey Garrett (David Barry Gray) during a hostage situation. Stevie's daughters Marian (Grace Johnston), Barbara (Rhea Silver-Smith), and Carol (Blair Swanson) are left orphans with no relatives.
Artie and Rita take them in and want to adopt them, but Child Welfare Services decides that their apartment is too small for three children and Barbara is a diabetic who needs insulin shots.
To gain the welfare agency's approval, Artie feels an urgent need to buy a house. The one he has chosen requires a $25,000 down payment that he doesn't have. In desperation, Artie grabs his gun and a ski mask and robs drug kingpin Beniamino Rios (Tony Plana), who was, in a way, involved in Stevie's death.
Artie uses $25,000 of the take for a down payment on the house. He gives the rest to Father Wills (Vondie Curtis-Hall), who runs a local makeshift shelter. Beniamino's girlfriend Grace De Feliz (Rachel Ticotin) is actually an undercover narcotics agent who suspects Artie, but his superior defends Artie as one of his best officers and no action is taken against him.
One of Beniamino's customers who tipped off Artie to where Beniamino kept his money breaks down under Beniamino's questioning and gives up Artie to the drug lords. Beniamino kidnaps Artie and tortures him to try to find out what he did with his money. Knowing that Artie will not tell and is about to be killed, Grace blows her cover and saves him. Together they are forced to kill Beniamino and his colleagues.
Artie's co-workers make up the $25,000 he stole. Grace refuses to testify against him, so the federal government walks away from the case to avoid compromising its agents in the field. Artie's boss, Lieutenant Danny Quinn (Kevin Conway), understanding his motives, is short-staffed for good detectives and out of loyalty to Artie's slain partner, whose kids will be homeless if Artie goes to jail, tells Artie that no charges will be filed against him.
Artie calls Rita to tell her that they and the girls are "still alive."
Cast
- Michael Keaton as Artie Lewis
- Rene Russo as Rita Lewis
- Anthony LaPaglia as Stevie Diroma
- Benjamin Bratt as Felix
- Rachel Ticotin as Grace
- Kevin Conway as Lieutenant Danny Quinn
- Tony Plana as Beniamano
- Charlayne Woodard as Cheryl Clark
- Kevin Corrigan as Clifford
- Vondie Curtis-Hall as Father Wills
Reception
The movie received mixed reviews.[1][2][3][4]
Box office
The movie in its first week debuted at No.2, making only $ 3.3 million.[5][6]
References
- ^ "MOVIE REVIEW : Keaton's Disadvantage in Being 'One Good Cop'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-07.
- ^ "Review/Film; Not Quite Dirty Harry, But No Joe Friday Either". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-07.
- ^ "One Good Cop". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 2012-06-07.
- ^ "One Good Cop". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-06-07.
- ^ "WEEKEND BOX OFFICE : 'Oscar,' 'Cop' Lead a Slow Field". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
- ^ "WEEKEND BOX OFFICE : 'FX2' Leads a Slow Field". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-06.