21 Bridges

I was planning to see the movie 21 Bridges over the Thanksgiving break but I ran out of time!  I decided to see it last night and what I thought would be an entertaining police procedural was actually an intense psychological thriller that I really enjoyed.  In a drug deal gone wrong, Ray Jackson (Taylor Kitsch) and Michael Trujillo (Stephan James) kill eight police officers from the 85th Precinct.  Captain  McKenna (J.K. Simmons) of the 85th specifically requests that Detective Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman) be in charge of the manhunt for the cop killers.  Davis is haunted by the death of his father, a police officer killed in the line of duty, and has a reputation for shooting first and asking questions later, especially when cop killers are involved.  He decides to lock down the island of Manhattan and an epic pursuit ensues with the clock ticking.  He is assigned to work with Frankie Burns (Sienna Miller), a narcotics agent whom he doesn't trust, and he is dogged at every turn by FBI agents Butchco (Obi Abili) and Dugan (Andy Truschinski).  As the manhunt escalates, Davis becomes suspicious and must ultimately protect one of the killers to uncover a vast conspiracy.  The narrative is incredibly predictable (I guessed the details of the conspiracy very early on) with some boilerplate dialogue but what makes this movie compelling is Boseman's performance as a troubled cop who ultimately finds redemption,  His character arc is fascinating to watch as he goes from a man out for blood to the only voice of reason in an increasingly emotional conflict.  Boseman imbues Davis with an intelligence that I really appreciated.  James also gives a great performance as a man involved in circumstances beyond his control who wrestles with the consequences of his actions rather than just being a stereotypical villain.  I really enjoyed the action sequences, particularly the opening shoot-out, a car chase through the meatpacking district, a foot chase culminating in a subway car, and an epic stand-off.  These scenes are gritty and feature fast-cutting to add to the intensity.  This movie reminded me of the kind of crime-dramas that we used to see back in the day and it was much better than I thought it would be.  I recommend it to fans of the genre.