Confessions of a Film Junkie: A Review of “Pride & Glory”
By: Brian Cotnoir
One of the most dissapointing films I’ve ever seen is the 2008 cop-drama “Pride & Glory”. When I first saw the trailer for “Pride & Glory” I was very excited; it looked mysterious, action packed, and was starring my favorite actor, Edward Norton. What I got after seeing this was total dissapointment. This film could have been great, but unfortunately it was one giant failure.
The story of “Pride & Glory” is the following; Detective Ray Tierney, played by Edward Norton, is a policeman with the NYPD, along with his older brother, Francis, and brother in-law, Jimmy. One night four of Francis’s men are gunned down during a drug raid and his brother Ray is assigned to the investigation. Ray quickly discovers that the man they are looking for is a local drug dealer named Angel Teaso. While searching for Teaso, Detective Tierney discovers that a group of cops from his precinct have been doing murder-for-hire and that the head of this murder-for-hire ring is his brother-in-law, Jimmy Egan. Ray brings this news to his father, an ex- NYPD detective, and his father, who is played by John Voight, pleads with his son not to tell anyone what he has discovered in fear that the news might tear the whole family apart. Ray is left with a tough decision, does he come forward with his discovery and turn in his brother in-law or does he keep quiet about everything?
Like I said, the trailer led on that this film was going to be more action packed than it really was. Just by watching the trailer it looked like Norton’s character was going to be a tough, take-no-bull-shit detective, when in actuality his character was a total pushover. The whole film he’s taking orders from his father, his brother, his brother in-law, and they all expect him to take the fall so that the rest of the family remains unharmed and can stay out of trouble. The real star of this film in my opinion is Colin Farrell. I’m not a Collin Farrell fan, but I think he did a great job as the good cop turned murderer, Jimmy Egan. Farrell’s character is psychotic, driven, manipulative, and just pure evil. One scene in the film actually shows Farrell threataning to burn a newborn baby with an iron if he doesn’t get any answers from a witness he’s illegally interogating; that scene right there is absolutely terrifying. I also like actor Shea Whigham in this film. He plays a cop and one of Jimmy Egan’s goons, but his character is at times very imcompetent, but still he provides some comedic relief. The rest of the cast his really hit and miss. John Voight does a great job as the family patriarch, Francis Tierney, Sr., but his characeter isnt’t really all that likeable, and I didn’t really like the performance of Noah Emmerich’s character, Francis Tierney, Jr.
This film isn’t awful, but certanily could have been a lot better. I’ve seen films similar to this with Edward Norton that were better than “Pride & Glory”, but this film still did not live up to the hype and potential it could’ve lived up to.
The story of “Pride & Glory” is the following; Detective Ray Tierney, played by Edward Norton, is a policeman with the NYPD, along with his older brother, Francis, and brother in-law, Jimmy. One night four of Francis’s men are gunned down during a drug raid and his brother Ray is assigned to the investigation. Ray quickly discovers that the man they are looking for is a local drug dealer named Angel Teaso. While searching for Teaso, Detective Tierney discovers that a group of cops from his precinct have been doing murder-for-hire and that the head of this murder-for-hire ring is his brother-in-law, Jimmy Egan. Ray brings this news to his father, an ex- NYPD detective, and his father, who is played by John Voight, pleads with his son not to tell anyone what he has discovered in fear that the news might tear the whole family apart. Ray is left with a tough decision, does he come forward with his discovery and turn in his brother in-law or does he keep quiet about everything?
Like I said, the trailer led on that this film was going to be more action packed than it really was. Just by watching the trailer it looked like Norton’s character was going to be a tough, take-no-bull-shit detective, when in actuality his character was a total pushover. The whole film he’s taking orders from his father, his brother, his brother in-law, and they all expect him to take the fall so that the rest of the family remains unharmed and can stay out of trouble. The real star of this film in my opinion is Colin Farrell. I’m not a Collin Farrell fan, but I think he did a great job as the good cop turned murderer, Jimmy Egan. Farrell’s character is psychotic, driven, manipulative, and just pure evil. One scene in the film actually shows Farrell threataning to burn a newborn baby with an iron if he doesn’t get any answers from a witness he’s illegally interogating; that scene right there is absolutely terrifying. I also like actor Shea Whigham in this film. He plays a cop and one of Jimmy Egan’s goons, but his character is at times very imcompetent, but still he provides some comedic relief. The rest of the cast his really hit and miss. John Voight does a great job as the family patriarch, Francis Tierney, Sr., but his characeter isnt’t really all that likeable, and I didn’t really like the performance of Noah Emmerich’s character, Francis Tierney, Jr.
This film isn’t awful, but certanily could have been a lot better. I’ve seen films similar to this with Edward Norton that were better than “Pride & Glory”, but this film still did not live up to the hype and potential it could’ve lived up to.
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