The Rookie Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

The Rookie Blu-ray Movie Review

There's a reason why nobody ever says, "from Clint Eastwood, director of 'The Rookie.'"

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 17, 2010

Fasten your seatbelt.

1990's The Rookie might reasonably be called "filler." It's a fine movie, "fine" being used in the broadest context possible, meaning here that the movie is technically proficient and features a coherent story, but it never -- not even once in its bloated two-hour runtime -- sets itself apart from the crowd. It's something like the Armored of the 1990s, a movie that exists to fill a vacant theater in the local multiplex for a few weeks, keep those Blu-ray replication lines chugging along, give reviewers something to talk about, and pad the resumés of all cast and crew involved. The Rookie isn't an embarrassment, nor is it an embarrassment of riches; it's a movie that lives in some strange happy medium where it's not remembered as a particularly bad movie, but it's not remembered as a particularly... well, it's really not one that's remembered, period, good, bad, or indifferent. In a way, that's not bad. The fact that it disappears into the ethers of filmdom, resides on some dusty back shelf at the video score, and ranks a cool 5.5/10 on its IMDB page says it all. The Rookie: it just is, it's just there, a movie that's about as invisible as they come.

I know what you're thinking. "Did he take six sips or only five?"

Top cop Nick Pulovski (Clint Eastwood, Absolute Power) and his partner Powell (Hal Williams) are hot on the trail of a dangerous German criminal named Strom (Raul Julia, Street Fighter) who's operating within the United States. He's involved in a major carjacking operation and running illegal chop shops, and months of careful and deliberate police work are about to pay off. Pulovski and Powell engage in their bust, but things go terribly awry: Powell is killed in the line of duty and Pulovski barely escapes with his life after a high-speed pursuit in which Strom and his men get away. Pulovski is pulled off the case and assigned a new partner, a young and newly-promoted detective named David Ackerman (Charlie Sheen, Navy SEALs). Of course, that doesn't stop Pulovski from clandestinely continuing on with his investigation. As he and Ackerman dig deeper into the crime syndicate thriving in the city and under Strom's thumb, the detectives find themselves caught up in a dangerous game where lives are as cheap as spare parts and the action is hotter than an overheated radiator.

The Rookie is a "Buddy Cop" film without the wit and charm of other genre entries, be they Lethal Weapon, Bad Boys, or any other such picture the likes of which seemed to dominate the cinematic landscape throughout the the 1980s and well into the 1990s. Ask fans to rattle off several Buddy Cop films in rapid succession, and wager on The Rookie not making the cut. Despite a trio of headlining actors -- Eastwood, Sheen, and the late Raul Julia (a Puerto Rican actor playing here a German character) -- the picture never manages to move beyond the realm of dull and unexceptional, with each actor finding a middling comfort zone that sees them go about their business with little more than the personality of a robot and certainly not embracing their roles, roles that are, admittedly, flat and uninspiring to begin with. Indeed, The Rookie suffers from not only roughly-hewn characters but also listless action scenes, a sluggish pace, and an unmemorable script. As to the latter, The Rookie feels like a paint-by-numbers picture with a story crafted out of just about every genre cliché in the book, a theme that filters down to just about every aspect of the production, both on screen and off. Whether the action in front of the camera or all that goes on behind it, there's a constant sense that all involved were doing little more than going through the motions with this one.

As for The Rookie's place in Actor/Director Clint Eastwood's career, it's easily one of his lesser outings and is probably the most forgettable of all the films in which he's both starred and directed. It might not have seemed so out-of-place or woefully mundane had it been one of his first forays into the director's chair -- a learning experience of sorts, and had it been his, or any director's, first outing, it could be seen as a step in the right direction and a bearer of better things to come -- but considering he had a few pretty good flicks under his belt before this (notably Heartbreak Ridge), it's easy to write The Rookie off as but a blip on the radar screen, particularly considering that his followup picture, Unforgiven, would net him the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars.

The Rookie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warner Brothers sends The Rookie onto Blu-ray with a paltry yet serviceable 1080p transfer. As for the more obvious negatives, the image sports a few hiccups in the form of slight banding and blocking, plenty of speckles and assorted debris, and terribly overwhelming blacks that don't just drown out finer details in the image but often devour the entire screen. Otherwise, the transfer is stable and fares best during brighter scenes, of which there are but a few; an outdoor restaurant scene in chapter six stands amongst the film's best, with good detailing on everything from clothing to nicknacks seen on tables. Color is nicely rendered in said scene, featuring a stable and crisp palette that's otherwise absent through much of the rest of the film, which is often bathed in thick blacks or at least shadowy, dusty, and smoky interiors. The many dark scenes are fairly devoid of intricate detail, and there's an overwhelmingly flat feel to the movie in such scenes. Flesh tones veer towards a slight red push, but are never overtly problematic. A light veneer of grain hovers over the image, but it hardly lends to the transfer a handsome film-like image. The Rookie won't wow viewers, and while it's far from being an upper-echelon Blu-ray release, it never looks downright awful.

The Rookie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Rookie zooms onto Blu-ray with a mediocre DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. It's a decent if not occasionally clunky sonic outing, boasting some aggressive and impressive segments surrounded by plenty of mundane elements that give the track a decidedly average tenor. Sound spreads out nicely enough across the front throughout; there's a good sense of spacing to the track, though it more often than not lingers about the front with only some token effects inserted into the back channels, coming primarily during more action-oriented scenes. Environmental ambience, too, seems limited to the front, and rarely does the track create a positive atmosphere, let alone one that's altogether seamless. Gunshots do ring out with a rather heavy thud, not to be outdone by some potent explosions heard in the final act. Also delivering convincing and steady dialogue reproduction, The Rookie delivers a good, but hardly elite, lossless soundtrack, one that's suitable for the content and age of the film, not to mention the pricing of the Blu-ray disc.

The Rookie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All that's included is the film's theatrical trailer (1080p, 2:02).

The Rookie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Rookie is about as average as they come, a midlevel picture if there ever was one, a movie that's technically sound but far from memorable, giving it a paint-by-numbers feel that impresses at a glance but loses some of its luster upon closer inspection. As to its place in Actor/Director Clint Eastwood's career, The Rookie seems more like a warmup to what was to come with films like Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, and Gran Torino on the horizon. As it is, The Rookie is just a forgettable but consistently competent film, a picture worth checking out for diehard Buddy Cop and Clint Eastwood fans, but chances are it'll vanish right back into the ethers of filmdom where it enjoys a quiet and serene existence as a film that's about as routine as they come. Warner Brothers' Blu-ray release comes as-expected of a film of this calibre, delivering a midline technical presentation and no extras of note. Worth a rental when there's nothing better to do on a dreary weekend.