Brooklyn's Finest is the latest film from Antoine Fuqua. He is the one who directed the gritty 2002 film Training Day.

In his newest film, Fuqua kicks the violence up another notch.

Brooklyn's Finest revolves around the stories of 3 guys in 3 separate branches of law enforcement. All 3 are facing a crossroads. Eddie (Richard Gere) is a police officer walking the beat who is days away from retirement. Challenged by a rookie to spend his last days doing something that matters, Eddie wrestles with making a difference, or just keeping his head down for a few more days. Sal (Ethan Hawke) is a narcotics cop who is living paycheck to paycheck and fighting the ethical war of whether to take advantage of the drug money before him after raids, or let it go and keep playing things honest. And Tango (Don Cheadle) is an undercover cop who is asked to take down someone that he's grown close to through his work.

It all sounds so used up and done before, which it is, but it doesn't really matter in this instance. Yes, all 3 of the stories have been seen before in much better movies, but Brooklyn's Finest has a certain grit and tension to it that helps push it along.

Don Cheadle's storyline really carries the movie. He wants nothing more than a suit and tie, but for now he's stuck working undercover on the streets. He's promised the promotion he wants, but only if he can come through and put drug lord Caz (Wesley Snipes) behind bars. Snipes being someone that saved his life during an altercation. His desire to be legitimate and have a simple job behind a desk and live a normal life is really an interesting tug of war when it's presented that the only way he can get that life he wants is to effectively take away the life of someone who risked death to protect him.

The movie was at it's worst when Gere's storyline came into play. Too much time is wasted on dragging out his "Oh how I just wish I could retire" angle. He doesn't start to truly wrestle with his values until later in the second half of the movie, which means the film was spinning it's wheels for quite a while in the first half.

The acting is a little underwhelming. Cheadle is solid, but everyone else struggles. Were the acting stronger, I might kick the rating up another point.

Stunningly, it may be the most violent film I've seen in a while. Very high body count throughout the film and lots of blood. To be honest, I would venture a guess and say that there is a death about once every 5 or 10 minutes of the 2 hour and 20 minute film.

Brooklyn's Finest is Rated R for bloody violence throughout, strong sexuality, nudity, drug content and pervasive language. There's a high level of adult content, and so this is definitely not a movie for the kiddos.

Overall I'd give Brooklyn's Finest a 3 out of 5. Could have gotten a higher rating with some better acting, but considering the recycled stories, it was about as good as one can expect.