In the late ‘80s, Michael Keaton turned to the dark side… literally. After a string of successful comedies, the actor played edgy roles in movies such as Beetlejuice, Clean and Sober, Pacific Heights, and his superstar turn in Batman. In 1991, however, Keaton took a left turn as a soft but conflicted New York City detective in the crime thriller One Good Cop.
Released during a period when cop movies were the craze in Hollywood, One Good Cop was written and directed by Heywood Gould. His experience with gray area police stories in film dates back to his work as the screenwriter of Paul Newman’s 1981 police drama Fort Apache The Bronx. Gould’s later works, including 1994’s Trial by Jury and 1996’s Mistrial, emphasized the moral complications of the American justice system. One Good Cop was no exception as it puts Keaton into the role of an honest police officer torn between duty to the law and his personal obligations following a sudden tragedy.
What Is ‘One Good Cop’ About?
Keaton plays New York City Detective Artie Lewis, a veteran officer balancing his career with a loving marriage to his wife Rita (Rene Russo). Additionally, Lewis shares a brotherly relationship with longtime partner Detective Stevie Diroma (Anthony LaPaglia) who struggles to raise his three daughters following his wife’s untimely passing. Like most cops, Artie and Stevie are constantly working the beat, often getting into dangerous situations on the job only to be relieved when they can survive the day.
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One day, the partners are called to a hostage crisis involving a young drug addict holding kids captive. In a devastating moment, Artie witnesses Stevie getting gunned down while trying to save the kids. With no extended family capable of caring for Stevie’s daughters, Artie and Rita take them into their home until they can be adopted by a foster family. Quickly attaching themselves to the girls, Artie and Rita want to adopt them. However, they need a house instead of their tiny apartment. This leads Artie down a dark path to ensure his family’s future.
Michael Keaton Is Willing To Risk His Badge For Love In ‘One Good Cop’
What makes One Good Cop so unique in Keaton’s filmography is how it tries to balance the melodrama of Artie struggling to raise his partner’s kids with the crime-thriller elements of the story. Artie’s struggles as a new parent are juxtaposed with him and his new partner Felix (Benjamin Bratt) investigating New York drug lord Beniamino Rios (Tony Plana), whose drugs were frequently used by the addict who killed Stevie. As Artie still needs to buy a new home for his family to comply with Child Welfare Services, he resorts to robbing Rios almost Batman-like with a ski mask and splits the money between the house and a priest. Soon, Rios finds information about Artie’s identity as the robber and seeks payback.
Unlike his past signature characters, Keaton’s performance is purely sentimental outside the action sequences. From the opening scene of Artie starting his day, his life operates with a certain level of structure, having only one other person living in his small apartment. The addition of Stevie’s daughters disrupts that structure almost immediately. Not only does Artie become responsible for the girls’ well-being, including one who needs insulin shots to treat her diabetes, but he and Rita struggle to fill the void left by the girls’ deceased parents. These moments of drama see Keaton shine as a performer, portraying Artie as a sensitive cop with a powerful bond with his late partner which allows him to embrace the girls as his own.
‘One Good Cop’ Is A Morality Tale
Despite its on-the-nose title, One Good Cop is a tale about making good trouble. Artie’s desire to legally adopt his partner’s kids forces him to commit a serious crime that would cost him his freedom if caught. Making the situation more complicated is Grace (Rachel Ticotin), an undercover narcotics cop posing as Rios’ girl who brings her suspicions of Artie’s involvement in the robbery to his NYPD superiors. Even in such desperation, Artie’s guilt eats at him almost immediately. It puts him at odds with Rita despite his noble intentions of stealing from drug dealers who poison the community. Eventually, Artie finds himself conflicted about potentially giving up his badge due to his actions. Though the final act has its standard action movie beats, it is the very last scene dealing with Artie’s actions that prove to be the most controversial from a moral standpoint.
One Good Cop was a stand-out entry in Keaton’s career after Batman, as well as his transition from comedy to drama. Not only is it a gritty crime thriller, but it is also an emotional tale about one man’s struggle to balance the lines of morality in a selfless act of love.
One Good Cop
- Release Date
- May 3, 1991
- Director
- Heywood Gould
- Cast
- Michael Keaton , Rene Russo , Anthony LaPaglia , Kevin Conway , Rachel Ticotin , Tony Plana , Benjamin Bratt , Charlayne Woodard , Grace Johnston , Rhea Silver-Smith , Blair Swanson , Victor Rivers , David Barry Gray , Lisa Arrindell , Rick Aiello , Mike Hagerty , J.E. Freeman , Kevin Corrigan , Penny Santon , Doug Barron , Vondie Curtis-Hall , Vivien Straus , Brigitte Bako , Danny Kramer , Tommy Kramer
- Runtime
- 104 minutes
- Producers
- Harry Colomby
One Good Cop is currently streaming on Hoopla in the U.S.
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