Best Movies by Farr

Video Entry - NYC Cop Movies

A PRINCE OF A COP MOVIE

Surprise: "Prince Of The City" is a prince of a movie.

It's always interesting and more than slightly mysterious when you consider how different movies age.

Some are timeless, some get dated beyond recognition, while a few actually improve with the years..

Such is the case with Sidney Lumet's "Prince Of The City", which was released (gasp) over twenty-five years ago...Back in 1981, the film, based on Robert Daley's fact-based book about New York City police corruption, received mixed reviews and did middling business.

At 167 minutes, critics complained it was simply too long and too dark.

It is in fact along the lines of a Greek tragedy, with intensity, color and sweep, and for me not a moment seemed wasted.

A fine Treat Williams does full justice to the highly demanding part of Danny Ciello, a cop in an elite narcotics squad who turns informant for the Feds. Though he swears he will never give up his partners, this gradually becomes more and more difficult to avoid...and as circumstances escalate beyond his control, Danny starts coming apart.

It's also noteworthy that this was Lumet's second picture about police corruption; he'd made "Serpico" (another true story), with Al Pacino eight years prior. While that is a leaner, tighter film with more star wattage, ""Prince" has still been unjustly overlooked.

And from the sound of the director on the DVD's "making of" featurette, he was even prouder of "Prince" than his earlier, more commercially sucessful effort with "Call Me Al" Pacino.

Among a large cast, look for Jerry Orbach (a stand-out), Lindsay Crouse, Bob Balaban, Lance Henrikson, and an adolescent Cynthia Nixon--playing a junkie!