Crown Vic

This is mediocre, mostly forgettable drama, but it leaves a nasty taste.

My problem with this movie... is that it wants us to empathize with Thomas Jane's character. But the thing is, his character's just a crooked cop.

Writer-director Joel Souza's "Crown Vic" doesn't always balance those elements ideally, but it's still a respectable if non-revelatory cruise through a familiar terrain of mean streets and men in blue.

Souza and his cast explore a familiar milieu, and though they fall short of saying anything startlingly insightful about it, they do a fine job of making it feel real, and even vital.

An old-fashioned cop drama with echoes of David Ayer's End of Watch, Crown Vic doesn't break any molds, but allows Thomas Jane yet another part that reminds one how grounded and resonant he can be in the right material.

The rest of Crown Vic, written and directed by Joel Souza, will keep you glued to your watch more than the screen while you remember how much better Training Day was.

A tense and gritty crime drama which pulls no punches.

If the Oscar-caliber Training Day is like filet mignon, then Crown Vic is like a McDonald's hamburger.

A police thriller with few police and fewer thrills, Crown Vic nevertheless offers a few rewards for the patient viewer, though these come wrapped in a derivative package.

Written and directed by Joel Souza, this gritty, compressed exercise in nocturnal suspense demonstrates both the power and vulnerability of the men in blue.