Sitting through a movie’s opening sequence in which a hand-held camera zooms through streets or up and down stairs so fast many have to turn their heads away for fear of loosing their popcorn is definitely a bad way to begin watching a film. That’s what happens in Pride and Glory, a gritty, extremely violent crime drama about good cops and bad cops that literally wastes the talents of its stars.

The Tierneys are a family of cops headed by Francis Tierney, Sr. (Jon Voight), the Chief of the Manhattan detectives division, and including: Francis Jr. (Noah Emmerich), a police inspector; youngest son Ray (Edward Norton), a detective; and Francis Sr.’s son-in-law, Jimmy Egan, (Colin Farrell) a street cop. All four men have different temperaments and values which intertwine when four fellow officers are murdered in a failed drug raid.

Pressure builds not only on the police to find the killers, but also for the stool pigeon who tipped off the killers about the cops being on their way. As the official investigation moves slowly, several of the officers begin a vigilante exploration on their own. Heading up this effort is Egan, who leaves no stone unturned. He’s ruthless, mirroring the evil of all the scum he’s had to deal with during his career. (Spoiler Alert.) A scene where he terrorizes a mother and grandmother went too far for my comfort when he viciously threatens to burn a newborn baby by holding a hot iron to its face.

Ray, currently working in Missing Persons because he was unjustly accused of a wrong deed on a case, seems almost fed up with law enforcement. He sees where some of his peers are heading and doesn’t like it. He goes round and round with his father, who wants to uphold an image of justice for all of his sons. Francis knows something doesn’t smell right about some of Francis Jr.’s errant officers and wants Ray to head the task force to track down the killers.

Francis Jr. knows something is not right as well, but he’s been absorbed in nurturing his dying wife (Jennifer Ehle), so he’s had little time to take care of business. Emmerich (Little Children) does a good job of balancing all the tribulations he has to endure.

Norton and Farrell are both too good to have been shortchanged by this been-there-done-that script that reveals upfront who’s clean or dirty and leaves nothing for viewers to discover. However, even in a movie that fails to surpass it clones such as The Departed or American Gangster, each of these actors stands out in his performance. Ray doesn’t want to face off with his brother Francis about the right thing he should do, or hurt his sister by bringing down her husband Jimmy. Norton perfectly displays every frustrating emotion to define Ray’s character. 

Farrell does the same. Egan comes across as a despicable cop we hate from scene one. When he says lines like “Becoming a cop, the pledge we took to uphold something honest. We let it all rot from under us. I was a good man once,” we feel there should be something sympathetic about this character. But there’s nothing; it’s as if Jimmy has always been on the wrong side. Still, Farrell is so good at showing how far Jimmy will go to score another big wad of payoff cash, he’s addictive to watch.

Voight, an enthusiastic actor who seems to find roles in at least three or four films a year, knows how to prep his minor roles. He’s in good form here as a Chief whose allegiance between his job and his family ends up on the block. Lines such as, “You keep the rage, you cut the rest of it loose,” make his role feel sincere.

The disappointing script is by Joe Carnahan and Gavin O'Connor (Miracle), who serves as director. Carnahan also wrote Smokin' Aces, another movie centered more on violence and fast action than plot. In addition to the overuse of the hand-held camera, to me the worst offender in this film is Declan Quinn’s (The Lucky Ones) cinematography. Yes, crime dramas about street violence should have dark hues, but not so dark that the scenes are indefinable and it’s uncertain what actors are onscreen.

Pride and Glory might be okay as a rental when released on DVD, especially for those who want to see the performances by Norton and Farrell. However, I found it a badly made movie with a plot seen too many times already.

(Released by New Line Cinema and rated "R" for strong violence, pervasive language and brief drug content.)

Review also posted at www.reviewexpress.com.