Pride and Glory has a bad case of those NYPD blues. You know the symptoms: corrupt cops, loyalty versus honor, revoked pensions. Last time, it was Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg doing a Cain and Abel routine in We Own the Night (unless you want to count Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Righteous Evil). This time, it's Ed Norton and Colin Ferrell playing Bad Cop, Good Cop. Ferrell's Jimmy has been running a veritable Murder, Inc. operation out of the local precinct, accepting cash from one drug dealer for offing another. Norton's Ray is a police investigator, which is to say he investigates police. But Jimmy's his brother-in-law. Will Ray put family before honor? Or will he risk his pension?
What do you think? Pride and Glory seems like it's been made by people who've watched too many cop movies. All the elements snap dully into place, like pieces from an old jigsaw puzzle. And we look around for something that feels fresh and new. Jon Voight gets off some nice line readings as a police chief from the Old School. And Jennifer Ehle, in her brief time on screen, nearly breaks your heart as a cop's wife who appears to be losing a battle with cancer. But Ferrell doesn't seem to know the difference between emotion and emoting. And Norton, though effective, doesn't show us anything we haven't seen before. Neither does Pride and Glory.