Q & A (1990)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Brash and corrupt NYPD detective Mike Brennan (Nick Nolte) tracks down and executes petty criminal Tony Vasquez. Rookie ADA and former cop Al Reilly (Timothy Hutton) is picked by Kevin Quinn for the case. Detectives Luis Valentin (Luis Guzmán) and Sam Chapman (Charles S. Dutton) are the investigators. Brennan claims an open-and-shut self-defense case and Quinn expects a quick exoneration. There are various witnesses including criminal Bobby Tex Texador (Armand Assante) and his wife Nancy Bosch. Nancy is Al's ex who broke up after he didn't react well when introduced to her black father. The self-defense case doesn't add up and Quinn ramps up for a political run.Everybody is doing their best hard-boiled New Yorker. That and the labyrithium story can overwhelm the movie. Nolte is going for the full Nolte and it's arguably good. Armand Assante and Luis Guzmán doing a song and dance seems unnecessary. Jenny Lumet is possibly the squeaky wheel. Part of that is her character's convenient relationship with Al. I do like the idea but the situation is too convenient. The movie would improve with some simplification. Lumet is jamming so much into the movie that the flow becomes jagged. In addition, the music score is too light. The recurring song 'The Hit' is a bad 80's pop mix. Rubén Blades is infinitely better as an actor. It simply doesn't work for a gritty New York crime drama. Overall, the good stuff outweights the less good stuff. It kinda works for the most part.

***SPOILERS*** We the audience right away see that Pôrto Rican drug pusher Tony Vasquez's death was anything but justifiable in him getting his brains blown out by "hero cop" detective Let. Michael Brennan, Nick Nolte, at the very start of the film. It's now up to Brennan's good friend and head of the NYPD homicide department Kevin Quinn, Patrick O'Neal, to cover up Vasquez's murder and make it look like self defense on Det. Brennan's part.In order to whitewash the investigation in Vasquez's death Quinn gets Assistant District Atterony Aloysius-or Al for short-Francis Reilly, Thimothy Hutton, to take the case to the grand jury and do everything he can to get it squashed. Reilly being the good soldier, or former cop, that he is at first does everything to make sure that Bremnnan gets off. That's until a star witness in the Vasquez case his friend and former street gang buddy Roberto "Bobby Tex" Texador, Armand Assante, shows up at a pre-grand jury hearing together with his newlywed wife, whom he lived together with for some five years, the former Nancy Bosch, Lenny Lumet. It so happens that Mrs. Nancy Texador was Reilly's fiancée who dropped him like a hot potato when he flipped out when he was introduced to her father who just happened to be black! Reilly who was all business in handling the Vasquez murder case suddenly lost his cool and professionalism which soon lead to him having doubts to if "hero cop" Michael Brennan was as innocent of Vasquez's murder as his boss homicide chief Kevin Quinn said he was!Big city police and political corruption at its worst is depicted in the movie "Q & A" in grand style with almost everybody in it, police criminals and members of the city's Criminal Justic Department, ending up dirty in one way or another. Let. Brennan who likes to do things his way in creaking heads and breaking arms & legs, with a little murdering on the side, is up to his neck in what Bobby Tex and his gang of drug pushers are up to. It was in fact Tex who got the goods on not only Let. Brennan but a very high up member in the NYPD in their involvement in a murder some 25 years ago while they were, as teenagers, working for Tex's street gang as hit men in Spanish Harlem. It's now up to Let. Brennan, on orders from higher ups, to eliminate in every way possible the remanding members of Bobby Tex's street gang, together with Tex himself, in order to keep them from bringing out his and others in the NYPD participation in that 25 year old unsolved murder case! With one of the Tex gang members being the now gunned down Tony Vasquez!***SPOILERS*** Reilly soon finds out just how dirty Let. Beannan is and that leads to his life and career in the D.A's office being put on the chopping block! Brennan for his part does everything to discourage Reilly from continuing his investigation of Vasquez's murder short of murdering Reilly himself. The movie get somewhat ridicules when Brennan goes out of his way in murdering a number of witnesses who can put him behind bars including a couple of transvestites who's only crime seems to be that they know of the macho cop Brennan's secret life as a closet gay! Which Let. Brennan wants to keep secret from his friends in the NYPD who just think, in his macho and manly mystique, the world of him!With the now totally out of control Brennan on the loose, in both NYC and San Juan Pôrto Rico, murdering everyone he feels can finger him in his criminal, which includes the murder of Tony Vasquez, activities even those who were determined to get him off the hook now see that he has to be stopped and stopped for good unless, like he himself threatened, he exposes their skeletons, or dead bodies, in their closet as well! Brennan is finally tracked down in of all places his own New York City police precinct the two three, or 23rd, where he's finally gunned down by rookie cop Alfonso Segal, Gustavo Brens, when his good friend and former partner, who ended up getting shot by Brennan, Det. Sam Chappie Chapman, Charles S, Dutton, couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger on him!In the end a wiser and older as well as busted up Assistant District Attorney Al Reilly finally saw the light in that corruption in the NYPD, going back to as far as 1791, is here to stay and there's nothing that he or anybody else can do to stop it. Taking a long vacation from his job we last see Al Reilly sunning himself on an island in the far off Caribbean with his former, and back again, lover Nancy Bosch at his side.

Q & A is one of the most enigmatic films I've seen. It veers drastically between exceptionally good and oddly clunky and sometimes threatens to be pretty poor – and not necessarily in that order. It follows an investigation into a shooting by Michael Brennan, an experienced and ferociously tough police officer played magnificently by Nick Nolte in his pomp. The investigation is conducted by Timothy Hutton, who is a true revelation (to me, at least) as an almost equally tough, but mostly non-violent, lawyer. The situation is muddied by a shady drug-runner (Armand Assante) and a manipulative senior officer (Patrick O'Neal).The introduction to Nolte's character is fabulous scene-setting, as he holds court with fellow officers regarding some previous rough-housing of a suspect. The Brennan profile is deep and somewhat mysterious – we like him, we hate him, we are disgusted by him….and we want to see more of him. Speaking of which, the film could have benefited from more interplay between Nolte and Hutton. Hutton's brilliantly understated resilience to the aggression of Nolte and Assante, is a surprise and adds a true edginess to the film. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of the very clunky love interest Hutton has with Assante's mistress – we discover they are former lovers who split up over some fairly tenuous business about her father being black. The continued revisiting of this strained relationship is weak and uses time that one feels could be better served building the Brennan character or at least promoting the Nolte/Hutton feud.Other questionable points in the film concern the various plot turns that are almost casually thrown in and, whilst we don't lose track of proceedings, one feels we could have been given a better idea of how the characters arrive in certain situations. In short, by occasionally rushing things, Q & A often has you wondering if it's a bad film.But there are some moments that are truly great – various scenes with Nolte, and a short office tantrum by Hutton towards the end. You certainly feel that if this film featured more high profile actors it would be considered much more significant than it is currently. I would recommend Q & A to anyone simply for the performances of Nolte and Hutton – and obviously to fans of gritty cop dramas, who will love it anyway.

Whats not to like about this movie? Well, the violent and the dark, at times manic context which prevails in a good share of the scenes, together with the perversity thats being thrown at you in the most unsubtle way. Nick Nolte's Brennan must be the most foul,intimidating and maniacal cop figure ever portrayed since Orson Welles' Captain Quinlan in "Touch of evil". He pulls off a great performance, although not very pleasant to watch (nor listen, for that matter).Whats there to like about this movie? For one thing, there is Armand Assante and what most likely is the role of his career, even if its a supporting one and he gets only a couple scene stealers. He demonstrates how great he can be if given the right part. And his role is very interesting, an archcriminal with feelings, brought out by a woman who may not even love him.Jenny Lumet was also good in her role, although I missed more interaction between her and Assante's character. Timothy Hutton, although overshadowed by Nolte and Assante in turns (inevitable really), proves again that he is a solid actor.His performance is not spectacular(as the role doesn't allow it), but its worthwhile. Another great presence by Patrick O'Neal as the sly and cunning district attorney with a criminal past and ties to Bobby Texador(Assante).Sidney Lumet is the master of socio-political drama/comedy/thriller. Here he mixes all three into an enjoyable, intriguing and satisfactory work. This film deserves more attention than I believe it got. But again, looking at its "walk on the wild side" perspective, it really couldn't have become a blockbuster hit an average person chooses to watch on video or DVD on a Saturday night.