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Sorry, this movie sucks

Pretty Good

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Good story, Not enough for a whole film

"What a dump!", Bette Davis once said. But that small hamlet she lived in was a far cry better than the third world country look of the Bronx seen here, showing the lowest of the low lives, of every race and gender, and that includes the alleged third gender. It's a city of the worst that humanity has to offer, even those allegedly on the right side of the law. The city streets themselves become like real characters, although it's obvious that the streets like many of the real archetypes here will not survive or move onto better days. Fifty year old Paul Newman plays a character who acts more like 13, not at all a mature or respectable police officer, although he does have his moments. Obvious rookie cop Ken Wahl is far more likable than him, trying to calm Newman down every time he acts irresponsible. Of course, with an outgoing police chief and a new one coming in (Ed Asher), the whole Bronx force is in disarray.At the center of this exploitative look at a rough time in Bronx history is the sudden assassination like killing of two rookie cops, committed in calm, devil possessed fashion by strung up hooker Pam Grier. She's probably one of the great screen villains here, basically a prostitute version of Hannibal Lector, minus the livers and Chianti. There's unnecessary romantic subplots for Newman and Wahl which take on half an hour too much footage. Filmed in location when and where this took place, it can be looked on as a historical document as to life in a world turned upside down, but a lot more shock value utilized than real life drama.

From the actual true lives of several New York police officers, comes the Inspiration for Heywood Gould and this movie called " Fort Apache, the Bronx. " Director Daniel Petrie tried to mirror the harsh living conditions which surround the actual police station which is located in the very heart of the Bronx. Here one eighteen year police veteran (Paul Newman) named Murphy guides his partner Officer Corellie (Ken Wahl) through the work-a-day routine of being a cop on the streets of the neighborhood. It's not an easy task, indeed is a murderous nightmare for them and their fellow policemen when they have to deal with every manner of street criminal from drug addicts, prostitutes, pimps, elusive thieves, murderers and inner corruption within the police force. Their job becomes more difficult when Connolly a by-the-book, no nonsense, Police Captain (Edward Asner) takes charge of the precinct. In addition, Murphy is witness to a murder when one of his own men is charged. Finally, there is the fact that a burned out, strung-out prostitute (Pam Grier) is sought for the cold blooded killing of two rookie policemen. The movie is harsh in it's abject portrayal of the dark, gritty, street life and that includes the troubled lives of the men in blue. This movie which gave rise to films like 'Hill street blues and the streets of New York is very graphic. If you're looking for a true life cop story, this is pretty close. Mild nudity but Recommended ****

Cop work is tough enough without having to work out of one of the toughest precincts in New York City, circa 1981, with crime on the rampage and no end in sight.That's the territory Paul Newman covers as a busted detective turned uniformed patrolman named Murphy in this episodic, occasionally gripping but ultimately unsatisfying film."I've been on this job 18 years," Murphy tells his partner Corelli (Ken Wuhl). "I think every minute of it's written on my face. All the blood, the beatings, the scars...""Fort Apache, The Bronx" isn't just about the scars. There are lighter moments amid the mayhem. Newman gives an interesting, sometimes compelling performance. Now in his mid-50s, he was finally old enough to bust out of his youthful antihero image for the first in a series of jaded 40-something types laid low by the system. This in turn allowed him to enjoy a career renaissance after something of a lull in the 1970s. Murphy's not his best role, but it fits him like a worn leather shoe and points to better parts ahead.Murphy is at the center of a sprawling saga that takes in a double homicide, a street riot, and a woman named Isabella (Rachel Ticotin) who can't break free of the South Bronx even as she seems to Murphy to float above it. She's floating, alright, in a way that stretches credibility in order to keep with the hard-nosed dynamic at work. Ticotin and Newman do play well off each other, enough to give the film some needed light."Fort Apache, The Bronx" has the look and feel right. Shot on location in the South Bronx, director Daniel Petrie and cinematographer John Alcott get maximum production value out of a pretty cheap set. Red light reflects off wet surfaces like splattered blood. Whether you are in Murphy's squad car or a hospital reception room, the oppressive nature of the city is with you in every scene.What you don't have is a strong central story. Writer Heywood Gould presents us instead with a series of vignettes. A transvestite with a Donna Summer fixation wants to jump off a building and needs to be talked down. A purse snatcher in an aviator's cap runs Murphy ragged. A new no-nonsense precinct captain named Connolly (Ed Asner) pushes the wrong buttons trying to catch a cop killer, sending the community into a blue-hating frenzy.None of this is bad material. There are some weak moments, like Murphy clowning around to disarm a knife-wielding maniac. Danny Aiello overplays a one-dimensional role as a bad cop. There are too many hand-rubbing scenes about cops decrying "a world we never made" that feels like wanna-be Joseph Wambaugh.But you also have a film that opens with a slam-bang scene Sam Fuller might have shot, as delivered by Pam Grier in her hot-and-crazy prime. Grier has an interesting story arc that only tangentially connects with Newman's Murphy character but delivers much of the film's bleak message in a gripping and memorable way the rest of the film strains to echo. A lot of New York faces are seen among the cops, crooks, and civilians, like those of Sully Boyar, Paul Gleason, and Cleavant Derricks. Asner is good, too, unlike his fellow real-life liberal Newman playing against his personality as a character who seems to presage Rudy Giuliani and a new New York on the way. If you remember the period like I do, watching this is never a waste of time.Still, the end result is a film that feels like a dry run for better entertainments like the American TV series "Hill Street Blues," which debuted on NBC later the same year of "Fort Apache, The Bronx's" release. Seeing this story play out over a multi-episode arc would have allowed for stretching out promising but under-realized material like the conflict between Murphy and Connolly, two good cops with very different ideas of policing.Instead of taking on the question posed by Connolly's approach, of fighting for the rights of decent people to live in a law-abiding community even if it means busting a few heads, the film settles for a final chase scene and some soft jazz undercut by a memorable image of a rolled-up rug in a junkyard. It's another scene to remember in a movie that has a few of them, even if the overall result feels too rolled up itself.

Some movies can rely on atmosphere and acting skills alone. This is one of them. The plot is flimsy, and the setting and most characterizations a bit unlikely (but extremely well acted), and the film might recycle many cop-series clichés, but why carp? I expected little more than a gritty urban cop-flick, which it is, but it also proves to be very successful as a heart-felt human drama, thanks in large part to a prime cast with Paul Newman, Edward Asner, Ken Wahl, Rachel Ticotin, Danny Aiello and Pam Grier in a small but extremely creepy part as a deranged homicidal hooker. Paul Newman is excellent as a tough tired Officer Murphy and his partner, Ken Wahl, at least 30 years his junior, is one of the very few characters in the film blessed with an almost unbendable optimism, but he is in no way naive. He has a strong sense of realism and pride and, in many ways, represents Newman's moral conscience and ratio.The world here is without glamour. It's all very raw and real - not necessarily a realistic setting, but with believable characters - and that makes the whole thing work. It's not formulaic, and never seems to go where you expect it. The film has a downbeat neon-lit dark photography by John Alcott. Depressing, but perfectly matching the mood. It's simple, straightforward, unpretentious, and s basically a portrait of human tragedy. Don't expect flashy car chases or fast action. There's plenty of violence, but it seems to be a way of life, rather than serve as sensationalism, but proves to be a all the more effective. Worth seeing.Camera Obscura --- 9/10