Cops and Robbers

Rating: 6/10 (19 March 2008)

Good effort, but Ridley Scott needs to try harder to do better in the genre.
It seems wildly over-rated. A lot of the early parts are confusing, in a bad way. The characters are presented in a raw and realistic manner, but not much characterization is given to build up a personality, instead things are strangely rushed in a way that a lot of events happen but the character's motivations aren't delved into. Russell Crowe's Richie is the good cop, he's a womanizer, he's a hard ass, and that's about it.
Denzel Washington for all the praise he got didn't seem to put much effort in. He was much more convincing in his role in Man on Fire. Here, he's cold and unblinking in one scene, a jittery rattled old man the next. There's nothing to draw out the conflict inside. For example, the scenes when he buys his mother the new house and watches her face so unemotionally, then remains impassive even as he hugs her. Same later when he hugs his wife. There's just this blank look on him all the time. You don't get a feel for the intensity inside such an individual. Maybe it was weak directing on the part of Ridley Scott.
Russell Crowe came across slightly better, maybe on account of having worked with Scott before. But the script doesn't really build on a personality for his character either. Both characters, Frank and Richie, seem paper thin by the end, so the focus pulls away from their actions and is just about the moral of the story.
The soundtrack is supposed to be great. But it didn't really stand out, and some of it was borrowed from movies like Jackie Brown.
A good one time watch, but gives not inclination for further viewing.