Antoine Fuqua Returns With Another Cop Drama

NEW YORK: After the success of ‘Training Day’ in 2001, director Antoine Fuqua didn’t think he’d ever do another movie about corrupt cops until he read the script for ‘Brooklyn’s Finest.’

“For me the movie is the story of Job, are there any good men left?” said Fuqua. “And the finest will be standing at the end of the movie, which you’ll find out which guy is actually standing. They’re all good guys in some way to do that job, but they make some bad choices sometimes, based on the pressure they’re under.”

Ethan Hawke, who earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in ‘Training Day,’ plays a task force officer who doesn’t have enough money to care for his growing family. Richard Gere plays a senior cop on the verge of retirement who doesn’t want to offend anyone or take any risks. And Don Cheadle plays an undercover narcotics officer who’s too close to his drug world contact, played by Wesley Snipes.

“You can relate to where he’s at in his life right now,” Fuqua said he told Snipes about the role of Caz, Snipe’s first major feature film role since his tax troubles surfaced in 2006. “And he said, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’ I said, ‘I just want some truth. I want the truth for how you feel right now in your life. And this is that guy.’ And so I took a big chance because, you know, the bond companies and everyone was nervous about certain things, and I just said I can’t see anybody else. I don’t even know if I would do the movie if I can’t get the right guys in each role.”

It’s the performance of those guys that make the film, which weaves together their three stories throughout until they explode in a powerful climax. But is the title meant to be ironic?

“I found something fine in each one of them,” said Fuqua. “But I think the writer, Michael Martin, sort of ripped that right out of the headlines, you know. For me the movie is the story of Job, are there any good men left? And the finest will be standing at the end of the movie, which you’ll find out which guy is actually standing. They’re all good guys in some way to do that job, but they make some bad choices sometimes, based on the pressure they’re under.”