October 8–15, 1998

movie shorts

One Tough Cop

Directed by Bruno Barreto

A Stratosphere Entertainment release

It's hard to be the younger brother of famous and respected actors, and generally speaking, both Stephen Baldwin and Chris Penn have handled it well: they're talented artists who have mostly made interesting choices. You can see why they might have signed on to this movie, even if it leans a little heavily on a dese-and-dose style of cop dialogue. On paper, it raises complicated issues, like loyalty, trust, racism and NYC police corruption, initiated through a dicey true-life case involving the rape of a Harlem nun. But somehow, the result, directed by Bruno Barreto, is reductive and disappointing. Baldwin and Penn are detective-partners, saddled with the rape case, which becomes only a point of departure for racist stereotypes (suspects are pimp and banger-types) and standard-issue brutal interrogations and frustrated-copisms ("He's my partner!"). Baldwin is pressured by two women: an exceptionally tough-talking FBI agent (played by Barreto's wife, Amy Irving, using the c-word), who's determined to nail Baldwin's childhood pal, now a made guy (Mike McGlone, playing Italian instead of Irish, with a similar attitude and New York accent), and by McGlone's restaurant-manager doll, looking for a switch (Gina Gershon). As you might imagine, there aren't too many ways out.

-Cindy Fuchs