real Pride and Glory in its cast

Pride and Glory shows a gritty and emotional portrait of the New York City Police Department, the film follows a multi-generational police family whose moral code is tested when one of two sons on the force investigates an incendiary case involving his older brother and brother-in-law. The case forces the family to choose between their loyalties to one another and their loyalties to the department.

This movie was a long time coming. Originally scheduled to star Russell Crowe, it was torpedoed by the events of 9/11. Who wants to make an anti-NYPD story after that? Clearly, nobody. But now it’s finally gotten made, maybe in a different iteration, but with a terrific cast, headed by Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, and Jon Voight. The story of an Irish family of NYPD cops, headed by Chief of Manhattan Detectives Francis Tierney, Sr. (Voight). His two sons, both detectives, Ray (Norton) and Francis, Jr. (Noah Emmerich) are members of the NYPD, as is his son-in-law, Jimmy Egan (Farrell). After four members of Francis, Jr.’s crew are murdered by a notorious gang member, Francis Sr. asks Ray to head the investigation. It suddenly becomes clear that Jimmy and his cohorts, all under Francis, Jr., are as bad as cops can get. The main problem I had with this film was its pace. It’s got terrific acting by everyone, but when director Gavin O’Connor (the son of a NYPD cop, from a smart script by Joe Carnahan and O’Connor), delves into the Tierney family’s personal life, the pace lags. There’s a B story about Francis, Jr.’s wife, Abby (Jennifer Ehle) who is in the last stages of a battle with cancer. She’s obviously inserted in the story to add to the pressure heaped upon Francis’ head and a dose of pathos that the film doesn’t need. While the dichotomy between loyalty to job and loyalty to family is appropriate, still every time the film switched to the Tierney family, pace slowed and my attention flagged. Other than that, this is a fine story of a well-meaning Irish family and how things can turn sour when it’s penetrated by one bad apple. It’s a tense story of mixed loyalties, expertly told.

Norton and Farrell give their usual exceptional performances. Not to be left behind is Voight, the controlling father, who thinks he knows what’s right and what needs to be done, forget what his sons think and feel. Ehle is exceptionally moving as the dying mother undergoing chemotherapy, who remains strong for her husband, but shows in a poignant scene how devastating it is for her to have to be taken from her child. Emmerich, as Norton's brother, is particularly fine in the role as a mostly genial, somewhat distracted commanding officer who has let his personal life overshadow work responsibilities. Farrell gives a typical bushy-browed, rough-and-scuff performance as a conflicted officer, but he's never able to make the character his own in the way that Norton does. What does stand out is Norton's quiet verve and the wallop of the film itself. Tremendously violent and bleak -- the city in its rainy winter setting seems dank, cold and listless -- "Pride and Glory" has a hardened, grim feel. “Pride and Glory” breaks no new ground in its ruminations on fathers and sons and the bonds of the NYPD, but it treads well-marked territory with energy and refuses to pull its punches or indulge in cheap sentiment or emotional gimmickry. It’s a film that’s as alive and chaotic as the Christmastime New York streets it depicts. A gritty 4 on my "Go See" scale.