Brooklyn's Finest

• BROOKLYN'S FINEST (DVD MOVIE)

Experience the volatile and deadly world of one of New York's most dangerous precincts through the eyes of the men and women pledged to protect and serve. Starring Golden Glober winner Richard Gere, Oscarr nominee Don Cheadle, Oscarr nominee Ethan Hawke, and Wesley Snipes, Brooklyn's Finest 'grabs you and doesn't let go until the final frame' (Mike Sargent of WBAI Radio). When NYPD's Operation Clean Up targets the notoriously drug-ridden BK housing project, three conflicted New York City police officers find themselves swept away by the violence and corruption of Brooklyn's gritty 65th Precinct and its most treacherous criminals. Each man finds himself spiraling toward the same fatal crime scene and a shattering collision with destiny in this action-packed crime drama directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day).Fans of the grit of HBO's The Wire, as well ! as of the mean-streets story intersection plot of Crash, will find a lot to like in the intense crime drama Brooklyn's Finest. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) with a sure hand, Brooklyn's Finest follows three NYPD cops who come from very different places (geographically and personally) as their lives, and the compromises they have made daily to coexist with the mean streets of Brooklyn, dovetail to a climax that will have viewers on the edge of their seats. Fuqua has assembled a stellar cast here, including Richard Gere, a veteran cop just a week from retirement; the always amazing Don Cheadle, an undercover officer whose loyalties to the force may be compromised by his growing loyalties to the groups he's infiltrating; and the film's true revelation, Ethan Hawke, a young corrupt cop whose morals make the stomach turn, though Hawke's performance is nuanced and riveting. Supporting cast members include Wesley Snipes as a badass ga! ngster whom even the police have second thoughts about messing! with. O ther great performances are turned in by Vincent D'Onofrio, whose wooden delivery works here to make his character all the more menacing; Lili Taylor; and a ravishing, world-weary Ellen Barkin. The action is propelled along by the great performances, the excellent cinematography, Fuqua's deft direction, and the moody score by Brazilian composer Marcelo Zarvos. If the plot is a little far-fetched, even for a crime drama, the stellar performances more than make up for it, making Brooklyn's Finest one of Fuqua's, and certainly Hawke's, finest.