Director: Sidney Lumet
Year Released: 1981
Rating: 2.0
An undercover narcotics officer (Treat Williams), out of guilt, offers to cooperate with a federal investigation into police corruption but insists on never "ratting out" his buddies - eventually, he not only rats them out but also himself. The fact that this is based on true events only heights the sense of Shakespearean tragedy, though I will join the chorus in complaining that at three hours it is neither economical, nor humble, nor smoothly edited - scenes pile up on each other in a valiant effort to cram in countless characters and scenarios, finding most of the focus on the courtroom-type discussions/interrogations rather than chasing around heroin addicts through rainy Manhattan alleyways (flow is compromised for 'completeness'). As for Williams, it's no coincidence that his movie wife Lindsay Crouse refers to him as "Brando" (he claims he's more like Oskar Werner) - his performance is either way overblown or just right, depending on the moment (I think the heavy accent and excessive machismo hinders him, while it comes across as more natural for strong supporting actor Jerry Orbach). Lumet, on the other hand, is covering familiar territory (for him) - his Serpico was also about a Saintly Stoolie, yet no one can quite pull off Catholic Guilt like Mr. Scorsese.
