Code of Silence

Chuck Norris treds--none too lightly--on Dirty Harry territory here as Eddie Cusack, “Chicago's toughest cop" who "just got tougher." Chuck is slowly but surely working his way into the mainstream of movies, not to mention the mainstream of audiences. Each successive picture he is in has less and less karate, though what karate he does is still something to see. He is moving away from the standand "Chop-kick" genre (with its inherently limited audience) and into the standand action genre. He's still the same character in every movie though: the totally honest, squeaky clean, upright kind of guy. No matter how much he tries, I'm not sure he'll ever be an''actor;" then again, maybe that's OK. He does pretty well as the stoic, laconic type, who just happens to be able to kick the shit out of everybody.

Still doesn't do drugs, or drink, or mess with the ladies, though this film is a landmark in a couple of ways: in one scene it's CHUCK who gets the shit beat out of him (albeit only after beating up about 20 of the guys who attack him), and, not only is the language fouler here than in any Chuck Norris movie I can think of, but Chuck himself actually says the F-word, at least once. Trying to be more of a regular guy, I suppose, though he's still the incorruptible cop---known as ''stainless steel" on the street. All of which is OK with me; you can always use another Clint Eastwood (Clint is getting old) and don't think that Chuck doesn't know that Clint is the world's most popular actor, and was recently decorated by France (yes, the nation) and also wields great power in movies, and can direct or anything else he wants. (In fact, -Clint's latest picture—"Pale Rider”--which he directed, is in competition at Cannes, which started today.) The funny thing is that Dirty Harry always succeeds in spite of his diaregand for the rules. Chuck succeeds in spite of his strict adherence to them. Curious switch, but who knows?

In a few years, if Chuck plays his cards right, HE may be awarded the Chevalier d'Honeur, or whatever the hell it's called. I have no quarrel with Chuck; he's a straight-up guy who is great at karate and is handling his career very deftly. As for the movie, formula stuff, but handled with skill and verve. In short, great movie making. Everythinge from photography to the gritty scone---is handled with the utmost professionalism. Because of this (or maybe in spite of it) the picture succeeds as a cop thriller. It's very loud and doesn't slow down for a second. There's even a smidge of humor here and there, not that there's a lot of room for it. The script, however, is barely adequate--it kept missing good opportunities to capitalize on its setups. And despite the absolute simplicity of the plot (Chuck battles two gangs who are in a war and rescues the pretty girl who is taken hostage) I had trouble telling who people were supposed to be for a lot of the movie.

But definitely not boring, with a lot of dead bodies (a lot of violence, but not a lot of gore) and ACTIONACTIONACTION, a lot of gunfire, a great high speeed photography car chase, fights, some suspense, a chase on a train (shades of “The French Connection”), and a big pack of evil bad guys. /Casting note: the guy who plays big boss Luis here is Henry Silva, who, I'm certain, played Skull (Sosa's right-hand man, who always wone sunglasses, never spoke, and killed Tony at the end) in you-know-what. Dad disagrees, but I'd bet a Big Mac on it, so there.) The movie also introduces a piece of weaponry that makes Tony Montana's grehade launcher look like a Bic lighter. That Chuck uses it is no surprise; we've been expecting it for ages, would be bummed out if he didn't.

There is a formula subplot which has veteran Chuck teamed up with a rookie, and another about a crooked cop (which leads to Chuck breaking the cops' Code of Silence, which is why nobody will help him in the big fights, which is why he has to fight 'em alone, which is more "dramatic") (though of course, at the end, everybody realizes that he was right) (sudden thought: did the writer intend some great irony in the fact that both the cops AND the bad guys have an "Omerta''--Code of Silence? Heavy.), but neither is fully worked out; they appear, and then are just sort of dropped. That's what I mean by missed opportunities; in a way I won't bother to describe, the subplots should connect, but they don't. Maybe the writer was trying to avoid cliches (didn't he realize what sort of movie he was working on???) In any event, motivations get a little clouded, and payoffs are not made. More like bad judgement on the part of the writer. Ah well, that's the action genre for you. What's a few gaping plot holes between friends? At least it keeps you watching, and Chuck never misses when he fires, and I guess that's what it's all about.