The Rookie

Well, the film's Danish title, Cold Lead and Hot Slaps, is almost deserved, for there was little here to lift this film up to average. The plot has been seen before: a hardened cop loses his partner, who is shot by a ruthless criminal, Strom. The cop, Nick Pulovski, a cigar-smoking Eastwood, is determined to bring Strom down whatever it takes, but Strom, who makes his living from car theft on a grand scale, is not so easily nailed. Nick Pulovski's new partner, the young Dan Ackerman, is dragged into the hunt for Strom even though the pair have been taken off the case.

The Rookie is truly the textbook example of senseless violence. The film's message is that violence is cool. Why, for instance, does Dan Ackerman smash up a bar and burn it to the ground? The film's entertainment value would also rise considerably if it were cut down a good deal.

Clint and the expressionless Sheen are dull in the lead roles, and it is a waste of Julia and Braga, who, given the right parts, could be a genuinely dynamic duo. Here they are merely tiresome, and why on earth do they have to be Germans when they look like southerners?