PRIDE AND GLORY (Rated R)

We’ve seen so many movies like the police procedural that unfolds to almost predictable extremes in “Pride and Glory” that the list of films emulated is just too long to publish now. Just for the heck of it, let’s say that the recent films “The Departed” and “We Own the Night” inform, to a great degree, what should be expected from director and screenwriter Gavin O’Connor, the son on a New York City cop. Apparently, O’Connor may have a few insights into the law enforcement culture that help him explore the clash of loyalties on full display in “Pride and Glory.”

Police dramas have become as generic as uplifting sports stories, and as a result, the title “Pride and Glory” would seem to work for either genre.

The concepts of pride and glory are very much at risk when an incendiary corruption scandal threatens to undermine the New York City Police Department. During the holiday season, four NYPD officers are dead, killed in an ambush that has the entire force on alert and on edge.

With a cop killer on the loose and so much at stake, Chief of Manhattan Detectives Francis Tierney Sr. (Jon Voight) asks his son, Detective Ray Tierney (Edward Norton), to lead the investigation.

For his part, Ray is reluctant to take on the case because he was burned in the past and has settled into low-risk assignments that keep him off the streets. Moreover, he knows that the cops who were lost had served under his older brother, Francis Jr. (Noah Emmerich), and alongside his brother-in-law Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell). Right from the start, there is an overabundance of family ties that are certain to cause grief. This we know from watching too many other police procedurals sounding the same themes.

On the surface, the case looks like a routine drug bust gone terribly, tragically wrong. However, as Ray digs deeper in his investigation, he realizes someone had to have tipped off the drug dealers that cops would arrive on the scene.

More unthinkable is the awareness that the informant was somebody on the inside of the police department. Worse still, the evidence starts to point in the direction of his own family members, seeing how both Francis Jr. and Jimmy are in the same precinct that comes under a cloud of suspicion.

Naturally, as Ray’s probing into the dark corners starts to produce unwelcome results that the family patriarch doesn’t really want to hear about, especially when distrust is likely to touch on all relatives.

The hot-headed Jimmy is the most culpable, and this becomes increasingly apparent as he starts threatening drug-dealing lowlifes with an alarmingly aggressive attack. One of the most disturbing moments involves Jimmy’s use of a hot iron during an intense interrogation. Increasingly unhinged by erratic behavior, Jimmy even puts his wife Megan (Lake Bell) and kids in jeopardy when having to confront his criminal informants in his own backyard.

Meanwhile, Francis Jr. is caught in the swirling storm of controversy that threatens to ruin not just his command, but also to shred the family reputation. Moral dilemmas begin to run rampant, most of them predictable for the cop genre.

A more affecting story is that of Francis Jr.’s wife Abby (Jennifer Ehle), a victim of terminal cancer who just wants to be sure her husband will take care of their kids. Unfortunately, there’s a palpable feeling from the start that Francis Jr. is in way over his head and unable to deal effectively with a band of rogue cops on his watch.

What one expects is that the multi-generational police family will band together as a tightknit family, upholding their own principles, if not the “blue wall of silence.” But, as these things happen, the situation gets wildly out of control, leading to very intense, often brutal action. Aiding and abetting a downward spiral is the extremely volatile Jimmy, who seems to be channeling the energy of every hot-tempered, unstable drug-dealing punk on the streets.

“Pride and Glory” thrusts a family of Irish cops onto rocky moral terrain, compelling a number of difficult choices for dealing with corruption, family loyalty and departmental ties. In the end, the characters are more interesting than the story.

Colin Farrell’s explosive Jimmy is often shocking. Edward Norton’s tortured Ray is the emotional core of the film. Jon Voight excels as the worldly patriarch struggling to keep the family together. Together, and with the other strong supporting characters, they make this formulaic police procedural work quite well.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

Selecting programs often seen on PBS and A&E, Acorn Media distributes DVDs of the best of British television to the North American market.

“Agatha Christie: Mystery Lover’s Collection” features a collection of five mysteries from the Queen of Crime. From the subtle intrigue of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot to the frolicsome sleuthing of Tommy and Tuppence and the suspenseful adventure of two young lovers in “The Pale Horse,” this collection showcases the full spectrum of Agatha Christie’s timeless talents.

Among the five titles, “The Body in the Library” stars Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple investigating the death of a glamorous young woman whose body turns up in the unlikeliest place.

David Suchet plays detective Poirot in “The Mysterious Affair at Styles,” coming to the aid of an old friend, a recovering war veteran who encounters an apparent murder at a remote English estate.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

{mos_sb_discuss:5}