The Rookie (1990)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Good movie but grossly overrated

Good concept, poorly executed.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

"The Rookie" takes me back to the early 90s when thrillers and action pictures were all set aside for Sunday night, and from time to time, I was allowed to enjoy the movie with my Dad. Give me a few seconds to embrace the nostalgia... And I remember when I saw good old Clint Eastwood in his car, watching carjackers loading a whole semi-trailer with their recent (and valuable) "purchases", I had but one certitude in mind: his partner would better have a last puff on his buddy's cigars because he'd spp, become another "dead on duty" statistic. He wasn't a few days from retirement but he was old, he was Black and well, as Roger Ebert pointed out, the film's title doesn't make you expect a "dazzling work of originality". But I didn't know Ebert at that time, only my classics.So naturally, the man was shot from behind by the grand theft mastermind, a German (!?) mustached villain played by the late Raul Julia. Of course, it made the matter more personal for Nick Puvloski, a fine and shameless ersatz of Dirty Harry. Did I groan for such a lack of originality from the start? Well, I guess I just enjoyed the chase across the expressway and I knew the film would provide the shot of adrenalin we all expected for a Sunday Night. Of course, Nick doesn't get the villain, but he makes him lose the precious loot, creating another 'personal' grudge on the other side... and the next day, he's assigned a new partner, a young detective named David Ackerman.The set-up was predictable and the rest of the story was swimming in familiar territories: a tense relationship between the old street-smart cop and the sensitive rookie played by Charlie Sheen, bargains with snitches, television kicked by the bad guy, the sexy villainess, and the spectacular stunts. I didn't see the film for years but my memory wasn't blurry at all, I still had enough scenes stuck in my mind to have this in the "memorable films" compartment. I remember Sonia Braga shooting David in the back with that "amateur" line (the ad made me expect he would die for real), I remember David again, getting smoke on his face from a condescending bartender and a few scenes later, returning the favor back with a slightly disproportionate retribution, the spectacularly explosive stunt... and I also liked the final touch at the end with the initial scene being Xeroxed almost line from line. So when the film ended, we knew it wasn't a masterpiece but we didn't care, we had our share of fun and I gladly saw the re-run a few days later. I was aware of Clint Eastwood's reputation of course and I enjoyed his presence and his interactions with Sheen, but it was long before I became a movie buff, more familiar with his best work and capable to discern between such movies as "The Rookie" and other more valuable achievements. A few years after, on another Sunday night, "A Perfect World" was aired and I was capable to realize that this film played in another league. And we can say in totally objective terms that "The Rookie" doesn't reinvent the wheel, doesn't recreate the same chemistry that made the "Lethal Weapon" series and that it's one of Eastwood's lesser films... but even with that regard, the flaws are still enjoyable to say the least. Don't they call that a guilty pleasure?I think it says it all. Watching it again, I knew I was supposed to cringe many times. I was surprised to see how wooden and emotionless Sheen played his character, does he have a cramp on his lips that prevents him from smiling from time to time? I was also surprised by Pepe Serna, the ill-fated Tony Montana's drug-deal partner in "Scarface", there was just something in his voice and accent that didn't quite match the lines he was supposed to shout. I was also surprised by how underused Julia and Braga were. These two Latin actors don't need many lines of dialogues to exude their talent (and Braga was an unforgettable femme fatale) but I wish there was some depth added to their relationship, that would have made that 'rape' scene less gratuitous at least. It was also fun to see these guys working for Puvloski and Storm (or Strom?) getting bullets in retribution, talk about insisting that crime doesn't pay. I was also disappointed by the way David's backstory didn't quite add up to his character... precisely because he doesn't even save Nick's ass.The film had so many flaws I lost track... but my presumption is that Eastwood did it for the money in the way that you honor a command, I read that he had to make a movie for Warner Bros and maybe after two art-house films ("White Hunter, Black Heart" and "Bird") he decided to loosen up a bit and have fun. I'm fine with his idea of having fun and at least, you can tell he put quite a budget, judging by the impressive quality of the stunts work. But there's a reason the film didn't quite take off with the box-office although it was a mild success, it's not because it faced the competition of "Home Alone" because action pictures like "Total Recall" or "Die Hard 2" did better, so maybe it had to be a not so good word-of-mouth. But it was still good enough to deliver what was expected to an audience who knew what to expect.It could be better given its talented director and its set of villains, it's unfortunate that they had to put so much effort on the hardest part and not tried to densify the story a little, but I'll end with the same nostalgic tone that opened this review, "The Rookie" wasn't a theater film but the perfect movie to rent in VHS for a fun Saturday afternoon.

Ha ha ha, Sometimes I think it's even more fun to read the reviews than watching the movies! The Rookie, another kind of miss match coppers, But "our" guy had quite an impressive variety of partners in his acting career. Since I love both of them, main stars, I was not fussy and just enjoy the ride. Sometimes I had to endure with much pain well crafted and highly recommended work. So that's the way it is for some of us. Our two heroes successfully take on the baddies and won, what more do you want! (oh sorry for the spoiler!) One guy suggested that you should not take it too seriously actually he used a double negative which would almost say the reverse. mind you I'm also pretty good at these things but I happened to notice it so wanted to share. You like Clint, you like Charlie...Go for it.

All the new police look to get into investigating homicide, but not Charlie Sheen. With nightmares of his brother's plunge from a building, Sheen decides to chase car thieves. This is just in time for veteran Clint Eastwood to lose his partner to one of the latter, played well by Raul Julia and female Rambo partner Sonja Braga.Sheen is mild-mannered, well dressed and from an affluent family. This all changes when his mistake leads to Eastwood being captured and held hostage by the Julia-Braga team.Sheen becomes a one-man show by himself in this action packed film. We have the usual bridge chases, and Sheen burning down a bar is memorable. The film culminates in a wild chase airport scene and everyone there runs for cover.By film's end, Sheen is another Eastwood with the story about to repeat itself by Sheen having another partner while Eastwood moves upstairs.Fast-paced action thriller well worth viewing.

The scene with Sonia Braga raping Clint Eastwood would've been, for its stupidity, the lowest point in any other film. In "The Rookie" it's one of the highlights. The other one being the scene with Charlie Sheen trashing a biker bar. For some reason I like to watch them over and over again.Everything else seems to have been built around the two scenes and, consequently, has "filler" written all over. Eastwood was never a good actor. He's got a remarkable screen presence, but that alone, in this case, was not enough. He's a very good director, though, but here he didn't even bother with that. Overall, it's as if he wasn't sure whether he wants a relaxed action flick, or a suspense thriller, or a 70's type crime drama. For an action flick it's rather claustrophobic and noir, for a suspense thriller it's way too predictable (to the point of camp) and the dialog is very corny. For a crime drama it's terribly stilted and lacking in mise-en-scène. Even with all that aside, the timing was all over the place and many potentially good scenes were ruined by disinterested directing and editing.Before the clichés really began to plague Hollywood industry, the Rookie was already boasting many of them. The rookie cop maturing into an experienced crime-buster. The veteran cop aiming to score a big case. The criminal mastermind (not too bright, mind you). The yelling police captain.I don't know if cheesiness of dialog should be seen as a cliché - but this film has got it a-plenty. Same goes for miscasting. Charlie Sheen is wooden, Tom Skerritt is wasted, Pepe Serna acts like he's auditioning for "Ace Ventura", Sonia Braga is hardly worth a mention... and Raul Julia, as good actor as he was, could NEVER pass off as a German.