Workable movie - could have been better

Rating: 7/10 (21 June 2008)

The movie was like a documentary. But unlike a documentary, it has a lot  and I mean a lot  of historical flaws that just mean shoddy craftsmanship. (Check out the "Goofs" section.) ****Spoiler Alert**** (I saw the DVD unrated extended version)
I rooted for the black guy, as well as the white. They were both archetypes trying to do a quality job. Unfortunately, the black one killed people without much remorse; although: I have to say I liked the gun to the head in the middle of the crowded street. Yup, nobody here saw nothing.
Bumpy and the mob boss were poorly written: maybe that's how they are, but they came across as stilted.
And, I disliked the Puerto Rican beauty queen  although god knows she grew into the role. I liked the mom's comment: "She's an angel." That sentence conveys so much: the judging of goodness by looks alone (can't judge a book by its cover), the straight from the heart comments of the Mom, and that an angel is supposed to represent the ultimate (that word archetype again) of what a person can be. And, maybe because I have issues with my elderly mom, I really liked that the Mom slaps her son and says "Don't lie to me." Go, mom.
Of course, I liked the putting away of 150 criminals by the white and black man working together. And the cops. Wow, I hated the cops. How could they follow a rule that says: "Cops kill cops they don't trust"? And by not trusting: meaning cops who do not take bribes or do not steal. That is a shame. We still have the blue wall of silence, where cops do wrong and do not "rat" on each other. Well, my feeling is that if you don't rat on fellow cops, you are implying that you, too, are a rat!