The scales of justice drop and rise constantly in this outstanding performance by Treat Williams. By far his best interpretation to date.
The difference between "Law On The Books" and "Law In Practice" is shown in Prince Of The City. Daniel Ciello's decision making process is a constant Russian roulette, as his destiny is a mystery until the end. Making a deal is the name of the game in this movie and Danny Ciello certainly gets the deal of his lifetime when the government decides to use the testimony on his and his partner's misconduct as collateral for the entire investigation.
Daniel Ciello decides to do the right thing by ratting out himself and everyone else. A deep attempt to start again, to redeem himself. The law forgives Danny at the end however, the "unofficial" rules of life will show him the tab he'll have to pick up when, during a training class of rookies, Detective Stern asks "Are you THE Detective Ciello?"
Kind of a positive-negative image of Lumet's Serpico, where the Cop is directly fighting police corruption. In Prince Of The City instead we see a gradual change in the bad guy's behavior, from corrupt cop to redeemed human being/whistle blower. I believe Pacino's soul in "Dog's Day Afternoon" had also contemplated a similar redemption path (Shown by his interaction with his hostages, unlike John Cazale's cold behavior).
The movie is a repertoire of a long investigation which lasted over ten years. Sometime after Frank Serpico's repeated complaints and reports on NYPD corruption, the U.S. Department of Justice established an investigative body, the Knapp Commission, led by Judge Whitman Knapp. Treat Williams portrays real life former NYPD Detective Robert Leuci whose knowledge and information on his corrupt fellow officers working in the SIU (Special Investigative Unit), along with over two years of dangerous undercover work, dismantled an entire "Sub-division" composed by about eighty narcotics detectives, most of whom served time in prison. The SIU's detective body was responsible, along with several other felonies, for the infamous "French Connection Rip off", which consisted in the removal and reselling of over 110 lb of heroin from a police evidence room.
The testimony of Robert Leuci was an important milestone in the effort to fight police corruption; Leuci's testimony, although he acted in good faith in order to redeem himself and put a stop on such heinous actions, cost some of his partners' lives, as they committed suicide once the various acts of misconduct became public knowledge. The movie is a real life story based on a book by former NYPD Deputy Commissioner Robert Daley, whose work was made possible by Leuci's full cooperation.
Treat Williams was definitely worthy of an Academy Award, just like Al Pacino was in Serpico.
The difference between "Law On The Books" and "Law In Practice" is shown in Prince Of The City. Daniel Ciello's decision making process is a constant Russian roulette, as his destiny is a mystery until the end. Making a deal is the name of the game in this movie and Danny Ciello certainly gets the deal of his lifetime when the government decides to use the testimony on his and his partner's misconduct as collateral for the entire investigation.
Daniel Ciello decides to do the right thing by ratting out himself and everyone else. A deep attempt to start again, to redeem himself. The law forgives Danny at the end however, the "unofficial" rules of life will show him the tab he'll have to pick up when, during a training class of rookies, Detective Stern asks "Are you THE Detective Ciello?"
Kind of a positive-negative image of Lumet's Serpico, where the Cop is directly fighting police corruption. In Prince Of The City instead we see a gradual change in the bad guy's behavior, from corrupt cop to redeemed human being/whistle blower. I believe Pacino's soul in "Dog's Day Afternoon" had also contemplated a similar redemption path (Shown by his interaction with his hostages, unlike John Cazale's cold behavior).
The movie is a repertoire of a long investigation which lasted over ten years. Sometime after Frank Serpico's repeated complaints and reports on NYPD corruption, the U.S. Department of Justice established an investigative body, the Knapp Commission, led by Judge Whitman Knapp. Treat Williams portrays real life former NYPD Detective Robert Leuci whose knowledge and information on his corrupt fellow officers working in the SIU (Special Investigative Unit), along with over two years of dangerous undercover work, dismantled an entire "Sub-division" composed by about eighty narcotics detectives, most of whom served time in prison. The SIU's detective body was responsible, along with several other felonies, for the infamous "French Connection Rip off", which consisted in the removal and reselling of over 110 lb of heroin from a police evidence room.
The testimony of Robert Leuci was an important milestone in the effort to fight police corruption; Leuci's testimony, although he acted in good faith in order to redeem himself and put a stop on such heinous actions, cost some of his partners' lives, as they committed suicide once the various acts of misconduct became public knowledge. The movie is a real life story based on a book by former NYPD Deputy Commissioner Robert Daley, whose work was made possible by Leuci's full cooperation.
Treat Williams was definitely worthy of an Academy Award, just like Al Pacino was in Serpico.