The movie "Pride & Glory" has taken a long, troubled road to the screen. Among its problems, according to critics, is that its steeped in cliches. So much so, that the New York Times used it as a primer on NY cop movie cliches that just won't go away:
THE POLICE OFFICER’S FATHER, who is either on The Job or just retired from The Job and who talks about honoring the family — though that family could be the one in the seven-six in Brooklyn or the one in a split-level out on Long Island. (It helps if the father drinks too much, so that someone at some point can reach for his glass and gently say, “Hey, Pop, you’ve had enough.”)
THE POLICE OFFICER’S SPOUSE OR GIRLFRIEND, who has left him because he is torn between her and The Job. Yes, he is really, really torn; leave it alone. But you know what? Jimmy, Billy, Timmy, Tommy, Sean, whatever your name is? She can’t take it anymore. She has to get on with her life. After an awkward hug, Jimmy, Billy, Timmy, Tommy, Sean, or whatever leaves to see some more things.
THE POLICE OFFICER’S FRIEND OR RELATIVE, whose behavior on The Job will place the protagonist in a no-win situation; he gets “jammed up,” a phrase you are welcome to use. They confront each other in a station house’s locker room, a split-level’s living room or a bar, where their feelings are such that words fail and only fists will do.
CORRUPTION, of course: the kind that, once exposed, will blow the lid off this town, and everybody, but everybody, gets jammed up. And finally, this:
