NYPD Detective Sonny Grosso's book about a narcotics detective who gets caught in a turf war between the federal government and his own department is the subject of this made for television film starring Ben Gazzara as the honest cop brought down by ego.
This film ought to be watched back to back with the more prominent and theatrically released Absence Of Malice. Both touch on the same subject the corrupt crusaders for law and order. In this case it's a pair of feds played by Robert Vaughn and Danny Aiello who concoct a diabolical scheme to find some crooked NYPD officers. And if they can't find them they'll dirty some up just to prove their point.
To put this all in context when this is all taking place the Mayor of New York was John V. Lindsay, a former Republican turned Democrat who was a prominent critic of the policies of then President Richard Nixon. And we all know about Nixon's enemies list.
The idea is put to an already crooked cop Tony Roberts to bring over an Italian Mafioso played by Paul Sorvino who will have a framed arrest and then be put to work offering bribes to narcotics cops in New York. Offers these guys can't refuse apparently.
Roberts crosses them up slightly, instead of making the bust himself he turns it over to Ben Gazzara who has a clean reputation, but suffers from the sin of vanity, he wants to make a French Connection type bust, the kind author Sonny Grosso was involved with in real life. Now with Sorvino as Gazzara's prisoner and him not cooperating, Vaughn and Aiello play some legal and very illegal hardball. It results in one awful tragedy.
For a made for television film, A Question Of Honor is a good piece of work with a fine group of New York based actors. Grosso's story is from experience and from the heart.
No one will want a career in the NYPD after seeing A Question Of Honor.
This film ought to be watched back to back with the more prominent and theatrically released Absence Of Malice. Both touch on the same subject the corrupt crusaders for law and order. In this case it's a pair of feds played by Robert Vaughn and Danny Aiello who concoct a diabolical scheme to find some crooked NYPD officers. And if they can't find them they'll dirty some up just to prove their point.
To put this all in context when this is all taking place the Mayor of New York was John V. Lindsay, a former Republican turned Democrat who was a prominent critic of the policies of then President Richard Nixon. And we all know about Nixon's enemies list.
The idea is put to an already crooked cop Tony Roberts to bring over an Italian Mafioso played by Paul Sorvino who will have a framed arrest and then be put to work offering bribes to narcotics cops in New York. Offers these guys can't refuse apparently.
Roberts crosses them up slightly, instead of making the bust himself he turns it over to Ben Gazzara who has a clean reputation, but suffers from the sin of vanity, he wants to make a French Connection type bust, the kind author Sonny Grosso was involved with in real life. Now with Sorvino as Gazzara's prisoner and him not cooperating, Vaughn and Aiello play some legal and very illegal hardball. It results in one awful tragedy.
For a made for television film, A Question Of Honor is a good piece of work with a fine group of New York based actors. Grosso's story is from experience and from the heart.
No one will want a career in the NYPD after seeing A Question Of Honor.
