Synopsis
New York City detective Daniel Ciello agrees to help the United States Department of Justice help eliminate corruption in the police department, as long as he will not have to turn in any close friends. In doing so, Ciello uncovers a conspiracy within the force to smuggle drugs to street informants.
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Cast
- Treat WilliamsDaniel Ciello
- Jerry OrbachGus Levy
- Richard ForonjyJoe Marinaro
- Don BillettBill Mayo
- Kenny MarinoDom Bando
- Carmine CaridiGino Mascone
- Tony PageRaf Alvarez
- Norman ParkerRick Cappalino
- Paul RoeblingBrooks Paige
- Bob BalabanSantimassino
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
Prince of the City is a very good movie and, like some of its characters, it wants to break your heart. Maybe it will. It is about the ways in which a corrupt modern city makes it almost impossible for a man to be true to the law, his ideals, and his friends, all at the same time. The movie has no answers. Only horrible alternatives. - 100
The A.V. Club
The tough urban realism Lumet perfected in cop dramas like Serpico, Q&A, and Prince Of The City has been reflected in first-rate TV shows like Homicide: Life On The Street, The Wire, and The Shield. But those shows had multiple seasons to draw out the breadth of institutional corruption, while Lumet miraculously covers this territory in 167 minutes. - 100
Time Out
An astonishing in-depth portrait of the interlocking worlds of police and hoodlum results, with no punches pulled and no easy solutions. - 90
Variety
The film is a concentrated, unrelievedly serious and cerebrally involving entry, exhaustively detailing the true-life saga of a Gotham detective who turned Justice Dept informer to eke out widespread corruption in his special investigating unit during the 1960s. - 83
Entertainment Weekly
What remains is nearly three hours of disorientation and paranoia, accented by Method-y monologue outbursts that quickly disappear into a vacuum of overwhelming loneliness. - 80
Empire
Brilliant, but forgotten eighties cop epic with an astounding central turn from Williams. - 80
The New York Times
Prince of the City begins with the strength and confidence of a great film, and ends merely as a good one. The achievement isn't what it first promises to be, but it's exciting and impressive all the same. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Williams gives a fine performance, the rest of the cast is also excellent, and director Sidney Lumet's eye for detail is sure throughout this authentic look at the dirtier side of police work.
