I've become a quiet fan of Edward Norton. I won't go see something like A Painted Veil at the theaters, but if one of his films falls in the broad range of what I like, then I'll go. When faced with the choice between the true story film that Clint Eastwood and Angelina Jolie have teamed up on (Changeling) or attending the cop thriller, Pride & Glory, I figured Norton's film would be good. I also figured that a buddy cop movie was less likely to make me think than a movie about a woman who loses her child. I won't know for a while how Changeling will hit me, but Pride & Glory is a rough movie about cops, corruption, family and penance.

Norton's Ray Tierney is joined by his father Francis Sr. (Jon Voight) and brother Francis Jr. (Noah Emmerich) as well as brother-in-law Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell). After four officers are gunned down while shaking down a drug dealer, the elder Tierney stiff-arms Ray into the investigation, while his other son and son-in-law tapdance around the issues. What follows is a study in family dynamics, religiousity, and corruption. It's entertaining, but also exceedingly violent and profane.

I almost had to leave when one of the "bad guys" comes this close to ironing the face of a suspect's infant, and the improvised tracheotomy made me squirm, too. But the gripping "entertainment" revolves around your desire to see whichof the sullied police officers will break through the blue wall to make right what has obviously been wrong for so long.

Of course, there are different levels of "sin" within the movie, some revolving around the actual killing, stealing and otherwise violating of various known criminals, and then there are the crimes of omission and silence. No one in the movie is black and white: the most violent offender has a heart and the least violent shows signs of the sludge that the corruption drags up.

Jennifer Ehle turns in a wonderful performance as Abby Tierney, Francis Jr.'s wife, struggling with terminal cancer, love for her family, and the hope that someone, somewhere, will always stand for truth. Her catalyistic place in the plot remains one of the highlights of the film, and quite honestly, her performance in the throes of this disease were some of the most terrifying and gripping scenes of the film. But, when the smoke clears and the credits roll, this movie is really about Norton's Ray, and how others are touched by his character.

Spoiler alert! By the time all of the refuse has hit the fan, Ray and Jimmy have the sort of colossal battle royale reminiscent of such pop culture cop-criminal films as Point Break. We've been led down the path of Training Day or a more gritty, less blockbuster-more Oscar version of Four Brothers. Jimmy has shown no remorse whatsoever for the crimes that he has perpetuated, while his accomplices have already faced down the demons of what they've done. There is little grace for them, because they've given none, they expect none. But given his moment of truth, Jimmy makes the startling decision, and pays for his sins.

I'm not sure how to take that moment, that sacrificial act. Is it trite? Is it self-loathing? Or does he really save Ray? I think that while artistically, or from a plot perspective, this movie can be evaluated differently by various critics, this moment is the one that is the most interesting. Of course, the dying wife will persuade the on-the-fence captain to make a decision for the future of his children (having a role model father they can be proud of regardless how poor he is) and the straight-shooting son will refuse to take the fall a second time to keep his family's police dynasty intact. But Jimmy laying down his arms, and accepting death? That's monumental, and quite a switch for Farrell's normal fare, where he usually has to be the tough guy, even in a losing fight.

Whatever you end up making of Jimmy's decision, it appears that the Biblical adages about removing the sinning portion of your body to make it healthy shines true here. Covering the lies makes the body (and family) sick, dragging it down and staining it thoroughly. Only when that sinful, blackened part is made clean can the family regenerate and heal itself. "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" may be true in Pride & Glory, but it's only when the Tierneys act on the truth they know that they are truly set free.