AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Marva
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
seymourblack-1
The two criminal investigations that are launched early on in this crime drama provide the backdrop for an even more powerful story that unfolds as a homicide detective becomes embroiled in a journey of self-discovery that leads to his downfall. Issues of race, religion and loyalties suddenly loom large as he tries to come to terms with his own identity and in the process, loses his objectivity and his professionalism. The consequences of his actions then prove to be far more devastating than he could ever have imagined as he gradually comes to recognise "the nature of evil".As Homicide Detectives Bobby Gold (Joe Mantegna) and Tim Sullivan (William H Macy) speed through the streets of their city on their way to speak to the brother-in-law of a dangerous drug dealer/cop killer, Gold feels highly motivated because he knows that if they can apprehend Robert Randolph (Ving Rhames), they'll gain plenty of kudos and recognition, not least because this particular criminal had previously humiliated the FBI by escaping their clutches, even when he was massively outnumbered by them The detectives' journey gets interrupted, however, when they come across another crime scene and Gold discovers the dead body of an elderly Jewish woman behind the counter of her candy store which is situated in a black ghetto.Gold's frustration about being delayed in his pursuit of Randolph soon heightens after he gets assigned to the murder case because the victim's son, who happens to be a wealthy doctor with friends in high places, was able to pull the necessary strings to make this happen. The doctor's motive for doing this was because he believed that, as a Jew himself, Gold would recognise that the murder was a hate crime rather than simply a "robbery gone wrong". Gold, who's first and foremost an honest cop, tends to believe that he's dealing with a straightforward murder case and initially regards the victim's family as rather hysterical and paranoid.In his subsequent dealings with the Jewish people he encounters, Gold is regularly patronised, treated contemptuously and repeatedly urged to abandon his normal neutrality and do whatever is needed to protect his own people. As Gold is a non-practising Jew who has never previously felt particularly Jewish, he starts to think more deeply about where his loyalties should lie and as well as starting to believe in the existence of a conspiracy, allows himself to be recruited into a militant Zionist group with whom he participates in the bombing of a property which is being used by a Neo-Nazi group. The group that he'd worked with then use his commitment to their cause to blackmail him and the slippery slope that he finds himself on, eventually leads to him being given a knowing glance by a man who, some time earlier, at a time when he wasn't interested in listening, had offered to tell him how to solve the problem of evil.Joe Montegna does a fantastic job of making his character's malleability seem credible and is even more accomplished in the natural way in which he looks so ashamed when Gold suddenly realises that an anti-Semitic rant he'd indulged in had been overheard by a member of the doctor's family. William H Macy is perfect as Gold's Irish partner who keeps his feet firmly on the ground at all times and Ving Rhames makes a strong impression in his important supporting role.The movie's story is told with great precision, intensity and pace and the kind of mesmeric quality that's a familiar feature of David Mamet's work. It's fascinating to watch and for some unaccountable reason, despite its numerous merits, still remains criminally under-appreciated
Paul Nevai
After an excellent start, the movie took an unexpected turn for the worse starting around the break-in scene to this nazi (deliberate lower-case spelling) store. So I ended up with mixed feelings even after having read numerous reviews and after re-evaluating my initial impressions.I love David Mamet so I don't have the heart to give a low rating because I don't want to spoil the average.Now I come to my biggest gripe. Joe Mantegna is a superb actor who shined in, e.g., House of Games by Mamet but he is miserably miscast here. You see the truth is that no gentile can ever play a real Jew, not even a secular one. Well, there is one exception to this rule I am aware of, namely, Armin Mueller-Stahl. I can also imagine Robert De Niro playing a Jew (he did more than once) but even that is a stretch. Joe Mantegna? No way. Even Rebecca Pidgeon who is a converted Jewess in real life is out of place here.Anyway, despite not liking this movie and even some of his other ones as well, David Mamet remains one of my favorites.
pacare
I watched this film dumbfounded. Its convoluted plot and confused ending leaves me speechless and annoyed that I watched this drivel. It fails to be clever on all levels and is absolutely unbelievable. ps note to all directors - it's no use hiding behind a police car in a shoot out. Oh i now need to add some more notes because unaccountably my earlier submission above was not adequate, Well the character development of such a boring star is impossible. The detectives are so stereotyped as to beggar belief. The use of cut away shots to explain problems such as dropping/losing a gun are juvenile. Enough said. And just for luck I did not enjoy it.
dromasca
David Mamet is a very interesting and a very un-equal director. His first movie 'House of Games' was the one I liked best, and it set a series of films with characters whose perspective of life changes as they get into complicated situations, and so does the perspective of the viewer.So is 'Homicide' which from the title tries to set the mind of the viewer to the usual crime drama. The principal characters are two cops, one Jewish and one Irish who deal with a racially charged area. The murder of an old Jewish shop owner who proves to be an ancient veteran of the Israeli Independence war triggers the Jewish identity in the mind and heart of the Jewish detective.This is were the flaws of the film are the more obvious. The process of awakening is theatrical and hard to believe, the group of Jewish militants is operatic, and the way the detective eventually walks to the final violent confrontation is pathetic. The end of the film itself is Mamet-like smart, but disappoints from a human emotional perspective.Joe Mantegna and William Macy give strong performances, but the flaws of the story are too evident to be easily compensated.
