Brooklyn’s Finest (Overture)

Seamy New York police drama chronicling a week in the lives of a cynical patrolman (Richard Gere) on the verge of retirement, an undercover operative (Don Cheadle) desperate for promotion to a safe desk job and a narcotics officer (Ethan Hawke) tempted to steal drug money to provide for his ill wife and growing family. Though Catholic imagery pervades director Antoine Fuqua’s grim journey through Gotham’s criminal underworld, faith provides no meaningful guidance to the conflicted characters as they cross legal and moral boundaries, and as the obscenity laden-script lurches from bloodshed to explicit scenes of sexuality. Frequent bloody violence, including beatings, shootings and strangulation, graphic nonmarital sexual activity, upper female nudity, a few uses of profanity, unremitting rough and crude language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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This capsule review is provided by the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Full reviews of this and other films are available online at www.usccb.org/movies.