possible SPOILER-SPOILER-SPOILER

Rating: 7/10 (17 October 2001)

Here's the deal. This movie SHOULD really get a 6 out of 10 from me (I gave it a seven). The problem? The script. The script is pretty good, but it has two major problems. The films these-types-of-cases-can't-go-to-court-type ending really cheapens the rest of the film. And then there is the vice that really gets Denzel Washington's character in trouble ... it just does not jive. Like Snoop Dogg smelling the scent of rookie cop on Ethan Hawke, Mr. Washington's vice smells of plot device (as opposed to character). Now, sure, lot's of films make this mistake but what makes it so grating here is that the film would have been really good without it. You see, Mr. Washington's character simply is too smart for this vice to be a character flaw. It just does not work, and with the easy out ending, it cheapens the whole effect of Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, and Anton Fuqua's work. A six out of ten knocked up to a barely passable 7 simply because I know that it is the script that betrays everyone else who worked on this film.