One Good Cop (1991)

Very well executed

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

NYPD detective Artie Lewis (Michael Keaton) has a loving wife Rita (Rene Russo) and trusted partner in Stevie Diroma (Anthony LaPaglia). Stevie is a widow with three kids but he is killed during a domestic hostage situation. Artie is made legal guardian and tries to adopt them. Felix (Benjamin Bratt) is his new partner. Artie is looking to buy a house to satisfy Child Welfare Services but he needs a $25k down payment. He decides to rob drug lord Beniamino Rios (Tony Plana) but Beniamino's girlfriend Grace De Feliz (Rachel Ticotin) is actually an undercover narcotics cop.There are a lot of little problems that kind of adds up. The cop stories seems a bit old. I do like the kids and Russo. If this is simply about them struggling to make it, I think it would be quite a good movie. The money problem has a lot of little questions. There should be a large payout for Stevie since he died on the job. If they had no money after the payout, then Stevie was really deep in the hole before. It's also questionable why a small apartment in NYC would keep them from adopting. It is New York City. He's a cop and they both work. Why wouldn't the bank lend them money? He's getting a great deal on the house anyways and the bank should easily lend him that much. It's really questionable that Artie would resort to stealing from Rios.

One thing here is that you'll either get swept up in this delightfully moving family / brutally searing cop drama or think it's manipulative tugging away with its unconvincingly trite plot developments. I would go with the former, but I can see why some might not be entirely taken away by it… especially with its sugar-coated ending.After the tragic death of his detective partner in their quest to crack down on a new wave drug --- Ice. Artie Lewis and his wife end up looking after the decease's three daughters with the possible intention of adopting them. However they're stretching for money and to keep them they have to find a house than living in their small apartment. Hence the dangerous path Artie decides to take to gain the extra doe to keep everyone together.The simple minded mixture of two genres is for most part well balanced and organised in not so a black or white fashion, as it bestows a seamy underbelly with the violence packing a punch (plenty of blood and bruises) and the emotional attachment and complexity weight of a couple trying to cope with the responsibility of looking after three children. Hard at first, but it brings them joy. Nevertheless what really lifted this from the standard material were the solid performances. Michael Keaton's likable easy going persona along with a touching Reno Russo was holding it together. Tony Plana held a vicious intensity to his drug-dealer gangster and Kevin Conway was commanding as Lewis' Ltd. Anthony LaPaglia as his former cop partner is affably good and Benjamin Bratt also shows up as one of his fellow officers. Writer / director Heywood Gould (who co-penned the much underrated revenge feature "Rolling Thunder") drills away in what you could say is sturdily workmanlike, building upon the pressures at home and work. Entertaining, if questionable.

In my opinion, this film is one of the most underrated action films of the nineties. Although it received some fairly good reviews by the critics, it was not very well publicized considering the quality cast. I would rate it as one of my top 100 all-time action films. The majority of IMDb voters appear to disagree with that evaluation. I believe this is related to two major factors. The first factor being the lack of hype for the film, as demonstrated by the fact that there were less than 1,000 IMDb votes cast for this film as compared with two other action films released the same year. Backdraft and Point Break each had in excess of 16,000 IMDb votes cast and received significantly higher evaluations. I believe that both of these films are excellent action movies, but I also believe that this film is every bit as exciting as those films and contains some intriguing elements that the others do not posses. The second factor is that many younger male viewers are turned on by non-stop action films with multiple shoot outs or demolition derby type car chase scenes. This film has a few action packed scenes but also takes the time to present a tender family oriented story. The IMDb voting demographics indicate the lowest rating for this film was provided by male voters in the 18 to 29 age group which appears to validate this theory.The film tells an emotional police story and explores the personal life of a police detective who struggles to provide a family life for the young daughters of his slain ex-partner. Although primarily an action movie, the film has several heart warming moments as it explores why individuals sometimes do the wrong things when motivated by the right reasons. Michael Keaton as the detective, Renee Ruso as his wife and Anthony LaPaglia as his partner all give strong performances which draw viewers into the emotional drama. Rachel Ticotin's character development is also key to the presentation.In my opinion an IMDb rating of between 5 and 9 would be justified for this intense police drama. I personally gave it an 8 out of 10 and would recommend it for male viewers looking for a rental to view with their wife or date. This date night type film, contains elements which should entertain both genders.

'One Good Cop' is the story of a New York narcotics agent (Michael Keaton) who takes revenge on the city's most powerful drug dealer after his partner of eight years (Anthony LaPaglia) was shot and killed by some goon who was high on the dealer's supply. Unforunately, what may've been a remotely engaging idea turned out to be one hell of a boring cop drama. On the one hand, you have this story of a ballsy cop who is willing to single-handedly take on this dangerous drug dealer and his top level goons. But this plot, which offers incentives for some intense action sequences or at least thriller appeal, is muddled by the other part of the plot which tries to compete for equal, if not more attention. That is, the when the agent's partner was killed, he and his wife (Rene Russo) suddenly find themselves to be the foster parents of that guy's three little girls. So, we have the family bonding sentimental moments, which tend to drag much longer than they should, and really get in the way of anything in the major story (the revenge on the drug dealer) getting accomplished. It takes about fifty minutes for the movie to even get remotely interesting, as they finally show you were the heck this dumb story is going and why the hell you should even watch it. Viewers starting the movie at this point, won't have missed much. Prior to that, there's nothing in the movie to really command your attention. You'd think once a powerful drug dealer felt even the least bit threatened by one narcotic agent working alone (he didn't even seem to be a cop with heavy connections and influence), then he would immediately send out his goons after this guy and family. That would've made an intense story, but no. We have to sit through fifty minutes of one couple trying to bond with three little girls. Who cares?