Police Captain Edward Hanna is a police-force veteran with thirty-two years on the force. His wife Emily was killed by a street punk, which fueled Ed's omnipresent rage against lawbreakers and leads him to exact vigilante justice on criminals who beat the system and were exonerated on legal technicalities. Hanna's latest victim is Bo Edmunds. Fellow officer Jim Shanley informs Ed that Jim is keeping a copious record of Ed's transgressions in order to inform Internal Affairs and start an investigation. So Ed orchestrates Shanley's murder with a 22 caliber gun and frames young police officer Jerry Reese. Ben, who has been friends with Ed for years, is hired to defend Jerry Reese in court with Judge Douglas Merrill presiding. An article of jewelry provides a critical piece of evidence.
As Edward Hanna, Richard Herd is convincing and I dare say even scary. It's worrisome to think about what would happen if all police officers were like Herd's Hanna. But Herd, an actor I've admired since seeing him in THE CHINA SYNDROME a few years earlier, is perfect in the role. You can see his rage seething and one wonders why this Type-A personality doesn't suffer a heart attack or a stroke because it seems as if his blood pressure is always at the boiling point.
Recommended.
As Edward Hanna, Richard Herd is convincing and I dare say even scary. It's worrisome to think about what would happen if all police officers were like Herd's Hanna. But Herd, an actor I've admired since seeing him in THE CHINA SYNDROME a few years earlier, is perfect in the role. You can see his rage seething and one wonders why this Type-A personality doesn't suffer a heart attack or a stroke because it seems as if his blood pressure is always at the boiling point.
Recommended.