36th Precinct (2004)

what kind of death does a murderer of a pregnant wife of an old friend deserve a person? Probably a head-shot from the avenger. Yet, this would be the least deserved death for the bastard. He(murderer) got left with the conscience that would slowly kill him. That was the idea, in my opinion.

36th Precinct (2004) is a very good crime narrative. Gerard Depardieu and Daniel Auteuil, two premier French actors, both deliver solid performances as great cops who both cross over to the wrong side of the law when they think that's it's to their advantage to do so. This film has a very complex storyline that is nonetheless well thought, and executed in perfect detail. No unbelievable coincidences, or unexplainable "holes" in the storyline. This film, therefore, has a very "tight" screenplay. The cinematography is great. The whole supporting cast gives excellent performances. This film left me wondering if strictly obeying the law is always the right thing to do. Hence, at least for me, this film is morally ambiguous in some ways. There is actually a number of different subplots in this film, but they are all well coordinated into portraying an overall consistent and believable film. There is some violence in this film, including a big shootout between the cops and the bad guys right in the middle of the street. However, none of the violence is in anyway gratuitous, and is very much integral to the storyline. This is definitely a good cops versus bad guys film, although sometimes it's hard to tell who the real bad guys are. This is a film that I'd like to view again just for the sheer enjoyment of it, and because it has much artistic merit.

I certainly got hooked into this tale with all its characters possessing certain flaws and everything in shades of grey. The beginning is ambiguous and draws you in, you don't know where the sides are drawn and even by the time they are revealed they still appear blurry and hazy. There were plenty of moments that left me reeling as things came left of field to surprise you and you fall deeper into the moral fallout of the two leads. There was also some moments of real panache too... I love how Auteuils character took some 'time out' to go see his wife Camille and calmly returned to his fate. It was a touching scene and I gave a small cheer at it too because it was such a nice thing for him to go and do. Unfortunately I missed the ending though, it was on TV late at night so I taped it but didn't have enough tape left to catch it all. So it cut off halfway through Auteuil's character catching up with his grown up daughter Lola... So I'd definitely appreciate any kind souls out there emailing me with a what happened next run down...

For some reason I never got into this movie. All throughout I was wondering why the movie was dragging along for me. I think it's two things:First, the English subtitles were awful. Or the dialog was awful. I can't tell, I can't speak French.The scenes transitions just made me wonder why they didn't end the last scene, or why this new scene was starting so slowly.The music scoring was also bad enough that someone I know complained about it.And worst, all the actors seemed to stare off into the distance a lot, like the director wanted to put up a big sign that said, THE ACTOR IS CURRENTLY THINKING but thought better of it. Hell, maybe everyone in France does that. I don't know, I've never been there.