My boyfriend liked Mos Def best, and his role and eccentrically stylized delivery do make the movie seem as if it isn't just a straight shot to Jack's triumphant salvation. For me, however, the movie works, to the extent it can be said to work at all, because of those three confrontations between Willis and Morse. In the final face-off the former partners — spiritual twins — lay out their opposing views of how they've soiled the practice of law enforcement. Willis is crippled by miscasting, but Morse would be formidable opposition for any actor. It isn't just his physical presence; his timing and delivery are at the concert level here.

Frank operates on a straightforward principle and in this confrontation he ends up repeating the same line to all of Jack's objections, each time louder. Morse makes Frank's rage to think of himself as a good cop specific to the character — as an actor he takes on the force of a bull-necked cop. He makes Frank's insistence bone-rattling. The movie isn't good enough for him, but all the same Morse manages to give as fine a performance as the material allows. Finer.