Pride and Glory Review
By David Kempler
No Guts, No Glory
Director Gavin O'Connor steps into the big league by scoring the job as helmsman of "Pride and Glory" and he doesn't disappoint, but he doesn't set the screen on fire either. The film is based on a story by an ex-New York City cop and it focuses upon the inner gears of that world - in particular, one family that is multi-generational in police work.
The patriarch of the family is Francis Tierney, Sr. (Jon Voight). He is a high ranking NYC official. His sons are Francis Tierney Jr. (Noah Emmerich), who is a commanding officer of a precinct, and Ray (Edward Norton), a cop who has a murkily checkered history that is forced to raise his game or sink. Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell) has married into the family and he too is a cop. Everything that occurs in "Pride and Glory" is about family, whether it be the Tierney family or the family of all policemen.
A multiple murder occurs and it's no ordinary multiple murder (if there could be such a thing). The murdered individuals are all cops. As you might imagine, this causes an upheaval in the department and sets the eyes of every policeman on fire. They want the murderer found ASAP, if not sooner. The central problem is that part of the Tierney family is dirty and part isn't. Clearly, there will have to be the inevitable showdown to settle the scores.
O'Connor shrouds the entire picture in near darkness. Few scenes are shot in daylight and even in these rare circumstances, everything appears almost colorless. Most of the scenes are shot outdoors at night or inside. Almost all interiors are drastically under-lit. I suppose that O'Connor is trying to convey dark souls and dark intentions but I found it to be more annoying than thought-provoking.
The first 80 or so minutes of "Pride and Glory" are extremely ordinary; strictly boilerplate material. The final 40 minutes almost make up for this, but not quite. While parts of this last section are excellent, it unfortunately still manages to occasionally hit the brakes. What saves it from totally falling apart is a very talented cast. Everyone does an outstanding job, with Norton shining brightest, not an unusual feat for him. It is pretty difficult to come up with an example of Norton not turning out brilliant product and his work here is up to his usual high standards.
At the end of "Pride and Glory" you will feel the appropriate sense of closure and it is all very workmanlike and professional. At times it is even a few notches higher. It might have played a bit stronger if everything about the plot wasn't revealed so early. Because of this there isn't all that much tension. And when you make a film noir-ish type cop film you better have tension, or at least a sleek, steamy production in its stead. O'Connor apparently went for the latter and while it is a somewhat valiant try it still falls short. A little bit more guts would have brought the glory it was trying to attain.
