By Geno McGahee
It’s hard to go wrong with Clint Eastwood. He brings enough presence to any film to make it enjoyable, but in the late 80s and early 90s, he wasn’t finding the magic like he once did. He did THE DEAD POOL, a good movie, but not comparable to the other DIRTY HARRY movies. PINK CADILLAC wasn’t good. In 1990, THE ROOKIE was released and it’s a mixed bag, showing the incredible talent of Eastwood but also shows where he was at this time.
Nick Pulovski (Eastwood) is a detective, dedicated to grand theft auto. He has found his big fish in Strom (Raul Julia), a big time car thief and chop shop owner. Nick and his partner, Powell (Hal Williams), approach the group of car thieves and Powell ends up dead at the hands of Strom. This leads to an incredible car chase, which is one of the most memorable parts of this film.
David Ackerman (Charlie Sheen) is the new partner for Nick and it doesn’t go over well. David is brand new and Nick doesn’t really want anyone that he has to train and that will be in his way and especially a partner that is by the book. Pulovski was taken off the Strom case but is still investigating it and giving Ackerman very little information on what he is doing.
The two are not getting along and when Nick goes to a biker bar, things get worse. Ackerman is beaten to a pulp and still has no clue on what’s going on. The ice between the two starts to break when they show similar interest in old motorcycles. Ackerman is able to fix one that Nick was unable to and the friendship starts to grow. What doesn’t grow here is the chemistry between Eastwood and Sheen. This reminded me of INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL with Shia LaBeouf not being able to keep up with the much better Harrison Ford. Sheen is decent, but he cannot keep up with Eastwood. This is really a great actor with incredible charisma and a capable actor that is just way out of his league. Had another actor been cast, we may have gotten something better out of this.
The investigation continues and Nick gets a bunch of the chop shops closed down. He even gets the news to cover it, which was the funniest part of the film. Nick talks about how much he enjoyed fucking over Strom and is laughing throughout the interview. There was some Eastwood magic in that scene…the funny, mischievous tough guy was on full display, but it didn’t last long.
With Strom running out of options, he decides to hit up a casino, but Nick and Ackerman are waiting for them. Bad things happen, and Nick is kidnapped and a 2 million dollar demand is made from Strom. Ackerman, feeling responsible for the kidnapping, goes on a quest of his own to show his grit and to save his partner. At one point, he returns to the bar where he got his ass kicked and burns it to the ground. That seemed excessive and probably not appropriate for a detective, but Ackerman watched his partner bend the rules and he got away with it. He probably thought they would look the other way and they really did. At the end of the film, no mention is made of punishment.
As a prisoner, Nick gets quite the treat. Liesl (Sonia Braga), the hot female henchman to Strom, has sex with the handcuffed Nick. Considering that Eastwood directed this, he probably wrote this scene in. What the hell? Why not? Go for it Eastwood. They don’t call him “No Wood,” after all. I bet this doesn’t happen with most kidnappings. If it did, most people would demand to be kidnapped. Most kidnappings probably involve a guy in a leather mask, looking for love.
Ackerman and Nick become true partners and make one final run at the bad guys, leading to the obvious conclusion.
THE ROOKIE is too long. It’s 2 hours long and could have benefitted from a better cut. If it was 90 minutes, it would have probably played out better. Sheen was unbelievable as a badass and didn’t work well with Eastwood. He was much better in WALL STREET, but here, it’s just not clicking. He wasn’t “winning” here. That’s for sure.
I still recommend this film, but it’s not up to the Eastwood standard. Sheen was a big drawback and it was too long. If you are a big fan of Clint (and who isn’t?), I’d say give it a go. You’ll enjoy elements of it.
