Fort Apache, The Bronx 1981 Written by Heywood Gould and directed by Daniel Petrie. I thought I had seen this but it sure didn't look familiar. Another title added to the Watched Movie List.
Paul Newman and Ken Wahl are cops in the Bronx. The 41st precinct is a mess, where they work, and the streets are filled with life's left overs. The precinct is nicknamed Fort Apache. Plenty of unemployment, drugs, guns, hookers, crime and murder on those streets. The cops keep the peace by leaving people alone most of the time. Less people get shot that way.
As the film opens Pam Grier shots a couple of rookie cops in the face while they're having their lunch in their patrol car. She's a hooker who's really high. She turns up randomly in the film, until she's murdered. Ed Asner is a tough by the book police captain who's come to the 41st precinct to turn it's low arrest record around. He gets started on his tough on crime push and the citizen push back, soon the streets are filled with protesters. Typically Ed tear gasses them.
Some good stuff happens to Paul but since it's the sort of movie it is, all that turns to shit. Nothing much good seems to happen to anyone in general and it's a good reminder that plenty of change is still needed. I doubt I would bother watching the movie over but I have a DVD so who knows. I'll hang onto it anyway.
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