Volatile, hard-nosed police detective Mike Brennan (Nick Nolte) is a force unto himself, and a legend on the streets. As the movie opens, he cold-bloodedly guns down a man, and then makes the killing look like self-defense. Assigned to the case is a clearly inexperienced new Assistant District Attorney, Al Reilly (Timothy Hutton). As the case deepens, Reilly realizes that things probably didn't go down the way that Brennan said they did. Brennan is just part of a big, corrupt conspiracy. One character who can offer some testimony *against* Brennan is Bobby Texador (Armand Assante), a charismatic lowlife criminal.
While not one of the best pictures of filmmaker Sidney Lumets' career, even lesser Lumet amounts to good storytelling and good entertainment. It won't appeal to viewers across the board, as this is a particularly gritty, even dark tale being told, with a non-stop assortment of epithets, racial, homophobic, and otherwise. But even at a running time of 133 minutes, this is one very compelling narrative, due largely to the acting talent on screen. Nolte and Assante in particular shine in two of the best roles that each actor has ever had. Huttons' role is less showy, and therefore his performance, but he does sell the essential facets of his characters' personality. Al soon finds out that he will have a personal involvement in the case, because Texador is now married to Nancy Bosch (played by Sidney's daughter Jenny Lumet), who was at one time the love of Als' life. (Until he made a critical mistake in reacting to the realization that Nancy's father is black.)
A steady parade of familiar faces lends additional gravitas to this yarn: Patrick O'Neal, Lee Richardson, Paul Calderon, Luis Guzman, Charles S. Dutton, Dominic Chianese, Leonardo Cimino, Fyvush Finkel, and John Capodice. Jenny L. Is clearly not a true heavy hitter like much of the cast, but she is able to hold her own in all of her scenes. As for the music score by actor / musician Ruben Blades, well, his "Don't Double Cross the Ones You Love" may not be a great song, but this viewer it's not really as terrible as Leonard Maltin would have you believe.
With elements of violence (some of it pretty nasty), humor, drama, action, and social / political leanings, "Q & A" is a pretty watchable effort from a master filmmaker, one that merits a second look from film lovers.
Seven out of 10.
While not one of the best pictures of filmmaker Sidney Lumets' career, even lesser Lumet amounts to good storytelling and good entertainment. It won't appeal to viewers across the board, as this is a particularly gritty, even dark tale being told, with a non-stop assortment of epithets, racial, homophobic, and otherwise. But even at a running time of 133 minutes, this is one very compelling narrative, due largely to the acting talent on screen. Nolte and Assante in particular shine in two of the best roles that each actor has ever had. Huttons' role is less showy, and therefore his performance, but he does sell the essential facets of his characters' personality. Al soon finds out that he will have a personal involvement in the case, because Texador is now married to Nancy Bosch (played by Sidney's daughter Jenny Lumet), who was at one time the love of Als' life. (Until he made a critical mistake in reacting to the realization that Nancy's father is black.)
A steady parade of familiar faces lends additional gravitas to this yarn: Patrick O'Neal, Lee Richardson, Paul Calderon, Luis Guzman, Charles S. Dutton, Dominic Chianese, Leonardo Cimino, Fyvush Finkel, and John Capodice. Jenny L. Is clearly not a true heavy hitter like much of the cast, but she is able to hold her own in all of her scenes. As for the music score by actor / musician Ruben Blades, well, his "Don't Double Cross the Ones You Love" may not be a great song, but this viewer it's not really as terrible as Leonard Maltin would have you believe.
With elements of violence (some of it pretty nasty), humor, drama, action, and social / political leanings, "Q & A" is a pretty watchable effort from a master filmmaker, one that merits a second look from film lovers.
Seven out of 10.