One Good Cop (1991)

Pretty Good

Best movie ever!

Admirable film.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I saw this first in the theater and a dozen times since. It's ONE OF BEST MOVIES I'VE EVER SEE. It should have won the Oscar for BEST PICTURE. It should have at least been Nominated because it is far more interesting than AWAKENINGS and it rivaled GHOST for the most sentimental offering but without the mushy fantasy. Michael Keaton and Rene Russo are at their best as Artie and Rita Lewis. Artie is a NYC cop whose long-time partner Stevie, played by Anthony Lapaglia, is killed in action. Since their mother had already passed away some time ago, Stevie had been raising his three little girls on his own. Artie and Rita had never been able to have children of their own and the girls have already bonded to their father's closest friends, "Uncle" Artie and "Aunt" Rita. Emotionally, it seems like a match made in heaven, but in the real world things are never that easy. SOCIAL SERVICES steps in does what government does best, screw everything up. Despite Stevie being like a brother to his partner, Artie and Rita are not relatives and their apartment is far too small and deemed "unsuitable" both of which prohibit any chance of gaining custody of the girls. Therefore, the three girls, who are precious even though the oldest one is sassy, cynical and overprotective of her two little sisters (I'm just guessing their ages 10, 8, and 4) will go into foster care and be split up. So Keaton comes up with a desperate plan to keep the girls and take down some bad guys at the same time. This puts Artie in the cross-hairs of both the bad guys and the cops. He risks his freedom and his life to make a better life for those little girls. Does he go too far? Is doing something illegal, even for a good cause, ever OK? Decide for yourself. To ME, Artie Lewis is ONE GOOD COP.

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 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?

As usual, Michael Keaton delivers an excellent performance. Whether the scene calls for humor, pathos or action, he's your man every time. I watch his face and body language closely in every one of his films, and he is always up to the demands of every role. He is as good an actor as any of the most celebrated stars, past or present, but is underappreciated. Also note his loyalty (or that of others to him), in employing the same people for assistance in many or most films. This is a guy who will bring you to tears with laughter or sadness, just in the way he portrays the character. His scene in his superior's office when he thought his career (and life as he'd known it) were over, was excellent - subtle, but he brought out how a person in the position would feel. Yes, this is a light movie, but heavy on quality, because of Michael Keaton. I'll continue to watch, enjoy and be amazed at his work, time after time.