Review of The Rookie (1990) by Josh F — 26 Feb 2010

A hard boiled action, jam packed with bar brawls, buddy cop banter and old school car chases that'll give you skid marks. Directed by and starring Clint Eastwood this flawed but entertaining buddy cop flick follows a simple worn-out premise, Veteran cop's partner is killed, veteran cop ends up going on a path of wild rampant destruction trapped in a game of cat and mouse, being mismatched with a wet behind the ears cop, enter Martin Sheen whom team up to take out the trash and hunt down the bad guys.

While the plot is quite clearly the fatal flaw to this film with lack of plot and character development what shines through and acts as the driving dynamic is Eastwood. Eastwood brings his usual dark brooding persona and laconic sense of humour to the table, the plot merely acts as a pretext to accentuate his uber-cool presence and comical banter 'if you want a guarantee, buy a toaster'.

Overlooking the plot and character development essentially what keeps this film intact is its flair for faced paced action and charm of not falling into the pitfall of taking itself too seriously, accompanied by Eastwood's off beat chemistry with Sheen that will leave you dazed and confused. Even thought it isn't exactly the most challenging and commemorative pieces among Eastwood's collection of work, it's still a light and affable film that's worth a watch and deserves more credit.