Prince of the City is like if Goodfellas was just after Henry Hill decided to rat on his friends. It skips the fun part and gets right to the manic, anxiety inducing investigation to get tape on corrupt cops and narcotics dealers in New York. For Hill, his drug habit caused him to be paranoid. For Prince’s Danny Ciello, it’s the prosecutors he is cooperating with. This film is a cynical portrayal of the cyclical nature of corruption in law enforcement and its ties to drugs in the community. Even if a corrupt cop tries to do the right thing and turn his life around, the very people he is helping are still out to get him. This film features a bunch of “that guy”s and no names to its credit. A big name star would have taken up too much space in the film. It’s long, slow, and meandering but it is expertly crafted with Lumet at the helm. 84/109
Prince of the City is like if Goodfellas was just after Henry Hill decided to rat on his friends. It skips the fun part and gets right to the manic, anxiety inducing investigation to get tape on corrupt cops and narcotics dealers in New York. For Hill, his drug habit caused him to be paranoid. For Prince’s Danny Ciello, it’s the prosecutors he is cooperating with. This film is a cynical portrayal of the cyclical nature of corruption in law enforcement and its ties to drugs in the community. Even if a corrupt cop tries to do the right thing and turn his life around, the very people he is helping are still out to get him. This film features a bunch of “that guy”s and no names to its credit. A big name star would have taken up too much space in the film. It’s long, slow, and meandering but it is expertly crafted with Lumet at the helm. 84/109
