'Crime Story' is obviously the lesser known of Michael Mann's two 80s cop series ('Miami Vice' being the other, of course), which is too bad, as this pilot episode showed great potential. This is solid crime fiction with real-life former Chicago cop Dennis Farina taking centre stage as a hard-driving detective named Mike Torello. The head of an elite squad in early to mid-60s Chicago, he ends up with a vendetta against rising, independent crime figure Ray Luca (Tony Denison). As we can see, his dedication to his job has resulted in an uneasy home life; he comes to suspect that his wife (Darlanne Fluegel) is fooling around.
As with any good debut episode, this is mostly about setting up the situations and the characters, with Mike coming off as a rather interesting, unorthodox kind of lawman. He's not above lying on the witness stand. What really gets him going is when Johnny (David Caruso, very convincing as a none-too-bright hothead), son of his old friends the O'Donnells, is determined to make his name in the world of crime and starts hanging around Luca.
Farina shows such presence and poise on camera that he makes for a wonderful protagonist; it's thanks to him that the character has some likability. Denison is equally compelling as the ambitious young mobster. They're supported by an incredible and rich variety of familiar faces: Bill Smitrovich, Billy Campbell, Stephen Lang (who gets a great showcase as a public defender who will clearly become something of a thorn in Torello's side), Joseph Wiseman, Jon Polito, William Russ, Martin Ferrero, Eric Bogosian, Ron Dean, Ted Levine, etc. Even the Diceman shows up in a small role. Pay close attention and you'll see Michael Rooker, too!
Cult favourite director Abel Ferrara ("Ms. 45", "King of New York", "Bad Lieutenant", etc.) handles this pilot in style, giving us a breathless opening car chase and an exciting climactic shootout in a department store. The engaging music score is the work of Todd Rundgren.
A shame this only lasted two seasons.
Eight out of 10.