4G4OSG&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"> Director Antoine Fuqua ("Shooter") attempts to make a silk purse out of three sows' ears with this overly long look at the final days of three Brooklyn cops. The picture follows the trio as they head toward a rendezvous with fate.
One is Eddie (Richard Gere), who has spent 22 years on the force and is set to retire in seven days.
Two is Tango (Don Cheadle), who has been working undercover and is now being told to send his best friend, Caz (Wesley Snipes), to prison.
Third is Sal (Ethan Hawke) a staunch Catholic. In order to take in some extra cash to give his family the life he thinks they deserve, he sets up and kills drug dealers, stealing their dough in the process.
Among the leads, Hawke comes off best. There is a true desperation in Sal. He's become a stone cold killer of "bad guys" because his family has needs that he believes can only be satisfied by money. He needs to be sent on drug raids so he can stuff some loose bills into his pockets. His wife (Lili Taylor) is slowly dying. This is not the life he signed on for. He confesses to his priest that he doesn't want God's forgiveness "? he wants God's help.
Hawke does a good job in showing us a man who is doomed to failure and is taking the family he loves down with him, and knows it. There isn't a bad performance here, with other good ones being turned in by Will Patton and Ellen Barkin in support.
The film's major flaws come from the clich
