rtiplady Review of 36th Precinct

36th Precinct (2004)

Two great actors give this film a gravitas it doesn't deserve.

[4/10 · 10 July 2006]

First the good news, the first hour of this film is an enjoyable, if derivative, cops and robbers show while Depardieu and Auteuil do as much as they can to keep things afloat throughout. The second hour, sadly, is just a melodramatic soup which you will enjoy in direct relation to how readily you swallow the soap opera-style plot contrivances, which are rammed in without regard for logic, or the intelligence of the audience, in order to get Auteuil's character jailed and his wife slain. For example, can a senior policeman ( The "good" cop, highly regarded by his superiors and the hero of the moment for having just jailed a violent gang that had been terrorising Paris for two years) really be convicted solely on the uncorroborated eye-witness evidence of junkie hooker? That's what we are led to believe here, even though we see the crime in question and know there is absolutely no way she could have seen the cop's face when she was cowering on the floor of the car until they had driven off (Strange, however, that an apparent manslaughter, committed by the much less regarded "bad" cop later on, is rigorously covered up by these very same superiors, in order to give him the job that they had specifically wished to deny him in preference to the "good" cop!). Now let's observe the behaviour of the killer. He has compromised the "good" cop in order to provide an alibi for the murders, but the "good" cop is caught and blows his cover. He is on the run and desperate, so what does he do? - he rings up the cop's wife in order to give her a large sum of money, apparently as "compensation" for her husband being jailed - well he would, wouldn't he?! The wife, naturally, jumps at the chance, not only to put herself in mortal peril but to diminish her prospects of survival even more by allowing the ham-fisted "bad" cop, still harbouring a grudge for being dumped by her in the past, to set her up for the meeting - all in all, not the wisest of moves. Perhaps it's best not to think too much to enjoy this film but, even so, the second half drags badly and may have you falling asleep long before the end - just as well then that the director thoughtfully adds a flashback to explain the final "twist" that you could only have been unconscious not to have worked out well beforehand.