One Tough Cop Review
by Susan Granger (Ssg722 AT aol DOT com)October 12th, 1998
Susan Granger's review of "ONE TOUGH COP" (Stratosphere Entertainment/Patriot Pictures)
Daniel Baldwin - not to be confused with brothers Alec and Stephen - plays a not-too-bright Brooklyn cop, Bo Dietl, whose best friend since childhood is a Mafioso (Michael McGlone). His partner (Chris Penn) has never seen a doughnut that wasn't delicious, a drink he wouldn't down, and a sporting event he wouldn't bet on so, inevitably, you know trouble's ahead, particularly when the beefy, streetwise duo solve a particularly savage rape/mutilation case for which they're not given the credit they're due. Then, when Baldwin has an affair with his Mafioso buddy's mistress, Gina Gershon, and Penn's gambling debts mount up, you can just see the bullet-ridden handwriting on the wall. Directed by a Brazilian, Bruno Barreto ("Four Days in September"), this is second-rate, cliche-ridden melodrama by Jeremy Iacone - with the only surprise engendered by the dour appearance of Amy Irving (now Mrs. Barreto) as a tough-talking, no-nonsense FBI agent. Never has this talented actress delivered a more robotic performance. And, no, Stephen Baldwin is not the Baldwin brother who was arrested on drug charges after trashing his suite at Manhattan's Plaza Hotel - that's the admittedly self-destructive Daniel - but Stephen looks stoned throughout this film. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "One Tough Cop" is a plodding, predictable, unimaginative 2. In some cases, a dumb title doesn't necessarily mean a bad movie. In this case, it does. A better title would have been "One Dumb Cop."
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
