Q & A
A film review by Sandy Grossmann
Copyright 1990 Sandy Grossmann
SYNOPSIS: There's never any question that the cop under
investigation in this movie is guilty. During the first five
minutes, we see him commit murder. The rest of the movie probes
the interrelationships between cops as well as the connections
between cops and criminals. More a drama than an action film,
the performances of Nolte and Assante make the film worth
watching. It's a Sidney Lumet film, so expect a gritty feel.
Violence and sex ratings: Not an excessively violent film. No sex.
The setting for our drama is New York City, and our main characters are: Al Francis Riley, the assistant D.A. (played by Timothy Hutton), Quinn, the district attorney (played by Patrick O'Neal), Mike Brennan, the cop who commits murder (played by Nick Nolte), Bobby Tex, the drug dealer (played by Armand Assante).
In most films, Nick Nolte plays a gruff-voiced but huggable teddy bear. Not so here. His character is a law-and-order cop whose 20-plus years on the force have pushed his hatred of low-life dealers and criminals to an obsession. He's the local hero of the precinct, known as the cop who always delivers, no matter what the difficulties. When he fatally shoots a two-bit criminal, no one is much interested in finding out about the details. The D.A., Quinn, calls on a young cop-turned-lawyer, Riley, to run through the Q & A (Questions and Answers) procedure. This procedure is a standard call-em-in-and-ask-em- questions routine. The outcome of a Q & A is a report with recommendations that is turned over to the grand jury, which then decides whether to press charges in the case.
The D.A. tells Riley that he wants an assistant D.A. who shares his values of law and order. Riley's father was a well-known cop of the same repute as Brennan, and the D.A. seems to be grooming Riley for a part in the intricate world of enforcement. The case that the D.A. puts him on is the shooting that began the movie. This is supposedly an open-and-shut case of self-defense, and the D.A. tells Riley to process the case ASAP so that Brennan can get back to work.
One of the witnesses is Bobby Tex. In the course of the investigation, Riley begins to doubt Brennan's testimony, but each of the witnesses whose story conflicts with Brennan's is a convicted criminal whose word means little when in direct opposition to a respected officer's word. Riley is faced with the dilemma of doing his job "right"--in other words, not being a rubber stamp--but by doing the job right, losing the respect (and backing) of the D.A., losing the camaraderie of the cops he so hungrily wants to be part of, and somehow failing in comparison with his father.
The people Riley always looked up look different up close, and he finds his heroes-- even his father--to be substantially lacking in the moral department. Even more unsettling, some of the bad guys are better than the good guys. Bobby Tex is a proud Puerto Rican whose sense of honor prevents him from falsely testifying. Yes, he's a coke dealer, but he's not the sweet Mel type of dealer that we encountered in Tequila Sunrise. Bobby has a depth of character and toughness that are nearly palpable. The contrast between Bobby and Riley is notable: beside Bobby, Riley is a wimp, and a fairly dumb one at that.
I won't comment on the rest of the plot, because information about the outcome would spoil your enjoyment of this film. Instead, let's probe those characters a bit.
Bobby Tex is the most interesting character of the film, and Armand Assante turns in a great performance. It's hard to believe that this is acting: Assante is so perfect for this part that it seems like type-casting. However, this street-wise tough guy is played by the same actor who played the French psychiatrist in Private Benjamin. Now *that's* scope.
The D.A. is a power-hungry politician, and I'm a bit tired of this stereotype. Nothing terribly new here, and a mediocre performance by O'Neal.
Riley could have been an excellent role for a good actor, but Timothy Hutton doesn't have what it takes to suggest complexity in this character. Hutton takes a very one-dimensional, straightforward approach here, projecting naivete and a childlike, trusting quality that are out of place in this film. (He's supposed to have been a street cop before he became a lawyer, and his father was a cop, too. That isn't exactly the sort of background that produces naivete and childlike trust.) What happens to his character in this film is the stuff that great roles are made of, but Hutton is simply, well, too simple to portray a multi-dimensional character.
In direct contrast with Hutton is Nolte. The easy, Hollywood interpretation of this role would be of a hard-ass racist who has complete disrespect for the law he supposedly enforces. Nolte, though, plays a passionate man whose respect for his fellow officers and workers is completely colorblind. The easy banter between the officers demonstrates an ethnic-rich humor that has nothing to do with racism. Interestingly, the script was probably somewhat ambivalent about his orientation; Nolte picked his way carefully, and he crafted a tragic character of memorable proportion.
This is not a great film, but it's a good one. Its most conspicuous flaw is that some of the characters' motivations are poorly sketched (or played) and their actions unlikely. In spite of its flaws, though, the movie is well worth seeing just for Nolte and Assante. One superior performance in a film is a rarity today. Two superior performances ? Enjoy.
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