Oh boy! Just what moviegoers need! Another dark, gritty flick about cops and corruption in New York.

Even though Pride and Glory stars outstanding actors Edward Norton and Colin Farrell, we have seen it all so many times before it’s almost impossible to keep the audience's interest. I’m wondering when Hollywood will reach the saturation point for films about New York cops, hit men, the Middle East conflict and fat doofy guys who get the hot girl in the end. I’m also wondering when the F-key on screenwriter Joe Carnahan’s keyboard will wear out, and he’ll stop using the F-bomb at least three times in every sentence. He even has a bereaved widow running into a hospital screaming, “Where’s my f-ing husband!” over and over. Maybe police wives in New York are tough, but something about that seemed a little gratuitous.

The story centers on the Tierney family, which has law and order running through its veins. Jon Voight is Frances Tierney Sr., who’s in charge of the squad. Noah Emmerich is Francis Tierney Jr., who heads up a particularly controversial precinct. Edward Norton is Ray Tierney, who is drawn back into an investigative role after taking a two-year break on the missing persons desk, and Colin Farrell is an officer in Francis’s precinct, who married the Tierney boys’ sister. So you see, it’s all in the family – all the bribes, betrayal, corruption and cussing, are all in the family, with Edward Norton being the closest thing to a conscience in this film, and just in case you can’t figure that out on your own, there’s a huge scar on his cheek to let you know he’s been affected.

Edward Norton usually picks better films. This run of the mill cop flick is beneath him. While he and his co-stars display admirable acting skills, the dark violence and cop clichés wear extremely thin. If you can get through the first 30 minutes in which there’s excessive F-ing and Spanish speaking with no subtitles, you’ll be rewarded for your endurance with an unspeakable scene involving a baby and an iron. That kind of “in-your-face” realism we can all do without.

Rated R. 

-- Lisa Johnson Mandell