Pride and Glory (2008)
Release Date: Friday October 24, 2008Genre: Drama Running Time: 125 min. Director: Gavin O’Connor Cast: Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, Noah Emmerich, Jennifer Ehle, John Ortiz, Lake Bell
First things first:ABSO-F-ING-LUTELY FANTASTIC! Gavin O’Connor really has something special on his hands with this film. It’s wonderfully written and beautifully shot. The cinematography really highlights the combination of characters, institution, and city in a way I haven’t seen in a long time. It’s the kind of film that follows the trend of lengthy action-dramas only you don’t feel how long it is; in fact I’ll go so far as to say that you wish it was longer. At least my friend and I did. We were sold on this film from the opening shot and locked onto the main characters immediately. This is the film people have been waiting for in terms of watching guys like Edward Norton and Colin Farrell. These are first class character actors and finally they have a chance to demonstrate it in a film that has the potential to be as commercially successful as it is
artistically.
Simple story of police corruption centred around the Tierney family where everyone is struggling emotionally and being pulled from all directions. In the end it’s the golden question; What’s more important: preserving a way of life or being able to live with yourself? It’s an action drama that perfectly executes the purpose of narrative filmmaking—a resolution. It’s not pretty, it’s not perfect, but in the end all issues get resolved and all characters are different from how they began. To be quite honest I never anticipated Jon Voight to be so good in this film. I hoped but I never really banked on this heart felt and believable performance.
I really can’t say too much about this film’s details with out ruining it for the rest of you so I will leave out the details. All I will say is that the Tierney family is faced with a dilemma not so different from most people today. Even if you aren’t a cop or a robber you will find yourself or an instance of yourself in this film at some point. It’s a scary prospect but one definitely worth experiencing. Definitely one of the best films I’ve seen this year—and I’m banking on Oscar nominations for either the cast, writer, or director on this one.