This is a vivid depiction of a terrible "bainlieu"--a ghetto located in a Paris suburb. It's filled with poor immigrants, random criminals, juvenile delinquents, aimless kids, and all sorts of riff raff whose behavior ranges from viciousness to general mischief. With ineffective or no parenting or schooling, it's just chaos. There are fundemenalist Muslim preachers (some former convicts) and local gang leaders trying to impose their version of order. Into this add three cops--one a macho idiot, one well-meaning but weak, and one who is genuinely decent. The film does a pretty good job of showing how an abusive cop behaves, and it also captures the unreasonableness of the mobs of lawless teenagers who make life impossible.
Where it ultimately fails is creating the implication that these things are somehow morally equivalent or that the corruption of a rogue cop is a significant part of the reason for this chaotic, dysfunctional ghetto. Bad cops may thrive in an environment like this, but ghettos are not created by police. A fair depiction would emphasize other problems, many in the home, and a few good and bad cops would be minor factors. But movie makers can't resist humanizing criminals and demonizing cops, and the result is a 50/50 mix that is basically nonsense. I found the film incomplete and, in essence, an empty platitude.
Where it ultimately fails is creating the implication that these things are somehow morally equivalent or that the corruption of a rogue cop is a significant part of the reason for this chaotic, dysfunctional ghetto. Bad cops may thrive in an environment like this, but ghettos are not created by police. A fair depiction would emphasize other problems, many in the home, and a few good and bad cops would be minor factors. But movie makers can't resist humanizing criminals and demonizing cops, and the result is a 50/50 mix that is basically nonsense. I found the film incomplete and, in essence, an empty platitude.