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Rookie, The
Warner Bros. // R // September 2, 2003
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
THE MOVIE
There might be a half-way decent 90-minute action film hiding somewhere inside Clint Eastwood's The Rookie, but this one won't go down in history as one of his better efforts – either as an actor or as a director.
Eastwood plays aging cop Nick Pulovski, who is so similar to Harry Callahan, the only noticeable difference between the two cops is that this one is on the beat in Los Angeles (instead of San Francisco). In the opening scenes of the movie, Eastwood's partner is killed by a bad guy played by the late Raul Julia (not one of his better roles, either), who steals cars for a living. "The Rookie" of the title is a young Charlie Sheen, who really doesn't hit any of the right cords in this film when he's asked to do serious material (a subplot about a deceased brother is almost laughable), but is actually pretty good in his more comedic moments with Eastwood. The best scenes in The Rookie are when Clint and Charlie are bickering at one another, but when they wind up getting separated for a big chunk of the plot, things quickly go downhill before they are reunited for the film's big climax.
Although the film boasts some impressive stunts (Clint and Charlie driving a sports car out of an exploding building is by far the best), there's really nothing about the direction by Eastwood or the quality of the acting by any of the performers that makes this film stand out over the dozens of other cop-buddy movies that have been made over the years (many of them with Eastwood himself in them). Actors like Tom Skerritt and Lara Flynn Boyle are wasted in minor roles here, and those looking for one of the better "bloopers" I have seen in a film will want to make sure to freeze frame their DVDs at the one hour, 24-minute, 19-second mark where, during a fight between Lara and a bad guy where no one else is supposed to be around, you can actually see Eastwood and a pair of stage hands standing to the right of the screen watching the action!
The Rookie is actually the last film in which Eastwood played a hard-nosed cop, and I must admit I kind of miss him in these types of roles. Granted, he played a tough Secret Service agent in In The Line of Fire (one of his best movies) and an ex-FBI agent in Blood Work (one of his worst movies), but there's something appealing about Eastwood playing the on-the-beat cop with a chip on his shoulder and a few bad guys to kill that I've always found appealing. Granted, The Rookie is less-than-stellar Eastwood, but when you see that glint in the eye and that frown on his face, it's hard not to enjoy some of the fun…even if it's in a movie as below-average as this title.
THE DVD
Video:
The movie is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen anamorphic, and is a decent, although not outstanding transfer. There is occasional "white flecks" (or dirt) on the print…which seemed to get worse as the movie progressed. A lot of the film takes place at night, and the blacks aren't particularly dark, nor are the colors very vibrant – thus giving the picture a somewhat "soft" look to it.
Audio:
The audio fares much better than the video, as we get a great 5.1 Dolby track here that didn't impress me all that much at first…until the movie got the action segments, where the track really took off and was pretty aggressive.
Extras:
Not much in the way of extras here. We get the original Theatrical Trailer for the movie, plus a Cast List, which includes a filmography for Eastwood, but no information on the other actors in the cast.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The only ones who may want to purchase this are the die-hard Eastwood fans out there. (I've added it to my collection – but I own almost everything with Eastwood that is on DVD.) For the non-Eastwood buffs, this makes for a good rental, but probably nothing you'd want to add to your shelf – considering Clint has made far better films and given far more impressive performances.
There might be a half-way decent 90-minute action film hiding somewhere inside Clint Eastwood's The Rookie, but this one won't go down in history as one of his better efforts – either as an actor or as a director.
Eastwood plays aging cop Nick Pulovski, who is so similar to Harry Callahan, the only noticeable difference between the two cops is that this one is on the beat in Los Angeles (instead of San Francisco). In the opening scenes of the movie, Eastwood's partner is killed by a bad guy played by the late Raul Julia (not one of his better roles, either), who steals cars for a living. "The Rookie" of the title is a young Charlie Sheen, who really doesn't hit any of the right cords in this film when he's asked to do serious material (a subplot about a deceased brother is almost laughable), but is actually pretty good in his more comedic moments with Eastwood. The best scenes in The Rookie are when Clint and Charlie are bickering at one another, but when they wind up getting separated for a big chunk of the plot, things quickly go downhill before they are reunited for the film's big climax.
Although the film boasts some impressive stunts (Clint and Charlie driving a sports car out of an exploding building is by far the best), there's really nothing about the direction by Eastwood or the quality of the acting by any of the performers that makes this film stand out over the dozens of other cop-buddy movies that have been made over the years (many of them with Eastwood himself in them). Actors like Tom Skerritt and Lara Flynn Boyle are wasted in minor roles here, and those looking for one of the better "bloopers" I have seen in a film will want to make sure to freeze frame their DVDs at the one hour, 24-minute, 19-second mark where, during a fight between Lara and a bad guy where no one else is supposed to be around, you can actually see Eastwood and a pair of stage hands standing to the right of the screen watching the action!
The Rookie is actually the last film in which Eastwood played a hard-nosed cop, and I must admit I kind of miss him in these types of roles. Granted, he played a tough Secret Service agent in In The Line of Fire (one of his best movies) and an ex-FBI agent in Blood Work (one of his worst movies), but there's something appealing about Eastwood playing the on-the-beat cop with a chip on his shoulder and a few bad guys to kill that I've always found appealing. Granted, The Rookie is less-than-stellar Eastwood, but when you see that glint in the eye and that frown on his face, it's hard not to enjoy some of the fun…even if it's in a movie as below-average as this title.
THE DVD
Video:
The movie is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen anamorphic, and is a decent, although not outstanding transfer. There is occasional "white flecks" (or dirt) on the print…which seemed to get worse as the movie progressed. A lot of the film takes place at night, and the blacks aren't particularly dark, nor are the colors very vibrant – thus giving the picture a somewhat "soft" look to it.
Audio:
The audio fares much better than the video, as we get a great 5.1 Dolby track here that didn't impress me all that much at first…until the movie got the action segments, where the track really took off and was pretty aggressive.
Extras:
Not much in the way of extras here. We get the original Theatrical Trailer for the movie, plus a Cast List, which includes a filmography for Eastwood, but no information on the other actors in the cast.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The only ones who may want to purchase this are the die-hard Eastwood fans out there. (I've added it to my collection – but I own almost everything with Eastwood that is on DVD.) For the non-Eastwood buffs, this makes for a good rental, but probably nothing you'd want to add to your shelf – considering Clint has made far better films and given far more impressive performances.
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