Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Police Work As Seen From The Inside Out, December 7, 2003
Evenhand tells the story of a newly joined partnership of two patrol car police officers in the rural (fictional) town of San Lovelis, Texas. One of the officers, Ted Morning, is a long-standing, hard core member of the force. He is paired up with a transfer, Bob Francis, who makes it a point to mention straight away that he is not a rookie, just a new addition to the San Lovelis staff. But as we get to know this duo as they go about their daily routine of dealing with domestic violence, car wrecks, armed robbery, and drug violations, it quickly becomes clear that next to Officer Morning Bob Francis seems the less experienced if for no other reason than he possesses a conscience. Although Morning's effectiveness as a cop is portrayed by director Joseph Pierson as an epiphenomenon of his 'primitive' relation to the citizens on his beat, it is the internal struggle Francis faces as he responsibly attempts to discharge his obligation as a police officer while contending with the moral conflicts inherent to wielding authority through force that sustains the narrative tension of this engrossing film. The relationship between the two men (played to perfection by actors Bill Sage and Bill Dawes) is also explored in depth, with particular emphasis on the way in which opposing personalities equilibrate as a function of time. This aspect of the film was handled by Pierson with exceptional care, precision and skill. The impact, in fact, is almost documentarian in its capacity to represent realistically the way in which conflict between people inevitably transforms each participant; subtly at first, then increasingly dramatically as the individuals involved interact within the singular emotional field produced by virtue of their entirely unique confrontation. Evenhand is a splendid example of psychological drama enacted on a small scale. Its perspicacious lens on human dilemma and strife will, however, stay with a viewer longer, and more tenaciously, than its scale gives reason to expect. My compliments to Sundance Channel for making this thought-provoking, lovingly crafted film available to cable television viewers.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Behind the Badge of a Superb Film, December 24, 2003
I saw Evenhand at the 2003 Florida Film Festival in Orlando, and I was impressed on so many levels. The scenes pulse with the conflict two street cops face moment by moment each shift, twenty-four hours a day. Director Joseph Pierson uses a poor section of San Antonio Texas to create the fictional San Lovisa as the backdrop for a storyline that reflects the good and the bad as artfully as a street mural can from a stuccoed city wall. On the surface, Officer Ted Morning (Bill Sage) is a bad cop. He arrests without question. His "psychic" instinct, not some judge, decides who is guilty. His newly assigned partner, Rob Francis (Bill Dawes), the good cop, winces and questions Morning's rashness. Unaffected, Morning advises him, "You want to help people? You arrest them. That's what you do. You're a cop." On the surface, the lines between good cop and bad cop seem not so blurred. But this film urges you to look past the obvious. Look past the badges of both characters and the story itself. Listen to the music (Joel Goodman, songs by Mike Doughty) that beats with strong bass, cowbells, or a poignant Latino rhythm. Watch carefully the mural that street kids paint throughout the film, which in the end finishes with its own final version of the story. Read the different signs people carry over their shoulders that you might easily mistake as product advertisements if you are just skimming the surface. Look beyond this conversion of diverse messages, and the subtext conveys a cop's greatest dilemma, "You can't be a friend to everyone." Evenhand arrests and escalates you toward a unified theme when both cops meet juveniles pointing guns with deadly intent. There is no black and white, no clear right and wrong. In the end, we realize that the best cop falls somewhere between the Francis' and Mornings' who monitor our busy and ever-changing streets each hour of every day in the real world. This is story telling and film making at its best. I'm thrilled to see this wonderful film sponsored and finally available for purchase. Bravo, and congratulations to all involved in its making!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
If John Sayles adapted a Joseph Wambaugh story..., August 26, 2005
Evenhand is a very impressive accomplishment: a quiet, thoughtful cop film. Its premise is familiar: two very different personalities working to adapt to each other and to the many demands of their jobs as patrolmen. So it's very much a character study, and the two principal actors -- Bill Sage and Bill Dawes -- do an excellent job of realizing their characters. As the film's energy is derived from their characters' different natures, it would have been very easy for each of their performances to become charicatures. They did not. In each, you see a fully-dimensioned person, including echoes of his partner's traits. That's good acting of good writing.
I also enjoyed the matter-of-fact style of the film, which reminded me of Victor Nunez's wonderful and under-appreciated Ruby In Paradise.
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