The Rookie is a 1990 American buddy cop action thriller film directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Boaz Yakin and Scott Spiegel, and produced by Howard G. Kazanjian, Steven Siebert, and David Valdes. It stars Eastwood, Charlie Sheen, Raul Julia, Sônia Braga, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Tom Skerritt. Eastwood plays a veteran police officer teamed with the rookie detective played by Sheen, whose intent is to take down a German crime lord in downtown Los Angeles, following months of investigation into an exotic car theft ring.
The Rookie premiered in the United States and Canada on December 7, 1990, grossing $21,633,874 in ticket receipts, just under its budget of $30 million. The film was overshadowed by the continuing success of Home Alone, which opened three weeks earlier and ended up being one of the top 100 highest-grossing films of all time. A financial disappointment, The Rookie was met with generally lackluster reviews. Critics considered it formulaic and shallow, and questioned the casting of the Puerto Rican Julia and the Brazilian Braga as Germans; a scene in which Eastwood was raped by Braga also generated some controversy.
Plot Veteran LAPD detective Nick Pulovski and his partner Powell attempt to bust a car theft ring loading a trailer with stolen luxury vehicles. In the ensuing shootout, Powell is killed. Pulovski pursues the fleeing truck, but the trailer is detached while he is on board.
The case is classified as a homicide and Pulovski is excluded from the investigation. He's assigned a new partner, "rookie" detective David Ackerman. Pulovski rebuffs orders and investigates the gang anyway. He and Ackerman track the criminal leader, Erich Strom, and his associate Liesl to a country club, where Pulovski confronts Strom. Later, they visit a bar to meet Felix, an informant. Ackerman gets in a brawl and has his badge is stolen before Pulovski defuses the fight. Felix points Pulovski to Strom's associate Morales.
The detectives force Morales to cooperate, and he places a bug in Strom and Liesl's house. However, a news report alerts Strom of an informant. Liesl beats Morales, and executes him.
Desperate for money, Strom holds up a casino. Having intercepted the plan through the wiretap, Pulovski and Ackerman ambush them inside the vault. During the confrontation, Liesl sees Ackerman's hands shake. She approaches him slowly. He hesitates to shoot. Liesl capitalizes on his hesitation, shoots him, and escapes with Strom, kidnapping Pulovski. Strom demands a $2,000,000 ransom. Ackerman who wore a bulletproof vest, survives. The police department refuses to pay the ransom, writing Pulovski off.
Determined to help his partner, Ackerman returns to the bar, wrecks it and demands information. He tracks Felix to his dry cleaners. Ackerman arrives just after a thug named Loco strangled Felix for snitching. Loco assaults Ackerman and escapes. Ackerman goes to his wealthy father asking for $2,000,000. Meanwhile Liesl and Pulovski are alone. She sexually assaults the bound and helpless detective until both reach orgasm.
Ackerman calls his girlfriend Sarah. She tells him the cops are looking for him. Lieutenant Garcia is waiting in their home. After the call two detectives attempt to arrest Ackerman. They claim Garcia is at headquarters. Realizing Garcia is not with Sarah, Ackerman manages to escape. He crashes a motorcycle through the front door. Loco is strangling Sarah. Ackerman intervenes but is losing the fight. Sarah picks up a dropped pistol and shoots Loco dead. Angered, thinking his only lead lost, Ackerman nevertheless comforts Sarah. Loco's car reminds him of one seen in a garage. He goes there hoping to find Pulovski.
In the warehouse, Pulovski knocks Liesl unconscious, and strangles a mechanic, Max. Max and Pulovski fall down an elevator shaft. Liesl awakens and traps Pulovski in the elevator shaft. Ackerman arrives, sparking a firefight with Strom. The criminals flee downstairs, while Pulovski escapes a detonated bomb by driving a convertible out of a warehouse window.
Pulovski and Ackerman hijack a van with Cruz who Strom sent to the ransom exchange. Cruz drives the detectives to the airport where Strom and Liesl wait aboard a private plane with pilot Ken Blackwell. Strom kills Cruz. A shootout and chase begins. Pulovski and Ackerman kill Ken Blackwell. His plane explodes when it collides into a jumbo jet. Running into a building past the tarmac, Liesl separates from Strom. Ackerman pursues and kills Liesl in the terminal. Pulovski pursues and kills Strom. Sometime later in the police station, Pulovski is promoted to lieutenant. He assigns Ackerman a rookie, Heather Torres.
Cast
Clint Eastwood as Sergeant Nick Pulovski Charlie Sheen as Detective David Ackerman Seth Allen as Young David Ackerman Raul Julia as Erich Strom Sônia Braga as Liesl Tom Skerritt as Eugene Ackerman Lara Flynn Boyle as Sarah Ackerman Pepe Serna as Lieutenant Raymond Garcia Donna Mitchell as Laura Ackerman Coleby Lombardo as Joey Ackerman Marco Rodriguez as "Loco" Martinez Xander Berkeley as Ken Blackwell Roberta Vasquez as Officer Heather Torres Hal Williams as Detective Powell Paul Ben-Victor as Felix "Little Felix" Tony Plana as Morales David Sherrill as Max Pete Randall as Cruz Matt McKenzie as Detective Wang Joel Polis as Detective Lance Robert Harvey as Detective Whalen George Orrison as Detective Orrison Paul Butler as Captain Hargate Anthony Charnota as Romano Nick Ballo as Vito Jay Boryea as Sal Anthony Alexander as Alphonse Jeanne Mori as Reporter Connie Ling Jordan Lund as The Bartender Kyle Eastwood as Band Member at Ackerman's House Party (uncredited)
Production
Sets and equipment Within California, filming was done primarily on location in Saratoga, San Jose and Los Angeles.Hughes, Howard (September 1, 2009). Aim for the Heart. I.B. Tauris. p. 78. . Various filming sites included Interstate 680 and State Route 87 in San Jose for the opening chase sequence featuring the semi-tractor trailer, the famous Villa Montalvo mansion for the henchmen meeting scene in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Saratoga, and the San Jose International Airport as well as the Mojave Air & Space Port for the final action climax scene, which author Laurence F. Knapp described as "both purgative and objectionable—a vivid, personal exchange of camera angles and vantage points that complicate, rather than conclude."Knapp, Laurence F. (September 1996). Directed by Clint Eastwood: Eighteen Films Analyzed. McFarland & Company. p. 176. .Gordon, William A. (June 1, 1995). Shot On This Site. Citadel. p. 31. . A furniture warehouse on the corner of 4th and Hewitt streets in downtown Los Angeles, stood in as the hideaway for Strom's illegal theft operation. But in relation to same hideaway's demise later in the film, a different building was used in the City of Commerce. A warehouse previously occupied by an auto agency slated for demolition on Flower near 12th Street, stood in for the impending explosion-filled destruction. During an introductory scene, where Eastwood's character pulls up in an unmarked squad car to foil the plans of the car thieves, a z-shaped thoroughfare called Santa Fe Street, provided the perfect secluded background at night which also happened to overlook the Los Angeles skyline. For the action sequences involving aircraft at the San Jose airport, a Hansa twin-engine jet was used to collide with a Convair 880 that was briefly disguised as a 150-passenger Evergreen International Airlines Boeing 727.
In keeping with the continuity of the subject matter and storyline, the filming was punctuated with the use—and in some cases the destruction—of expensive and alluring foreign automobiles; including a Ferrari Daytona, a Porsche 928, a Jaguar XJ, as well as brief appearances of a Cadillac Allanté and a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit. A vintage gull-wing Mercedes-Benz 300SL is also presented in the film, being personally driven by Braga's character in an introductory sequence before a large-scale climactic car chase scene. In addition to driving a newly redesigned Mercedes-Benz 500SL for the 1990 model year, Eastwood's character is also seen conveying his distaste for the Lime Green color on the Lotus Esprit and later driving said vehicle during a criminal pursuit. Sheen's character also takes part in a scene involving an older, rare Harley-Davidson, riding head-on through the front door of a residential home.
Filming
Coordination of the lighting along with the capturing of all other photographic elements in the film were achieved by cinematographer Jack N. Green. Stunt coordinator Terry Leonard and second unit director Buddy Van Horn, oversaw the task of integrating the scope of stunt people working to produce the action which numbered over twice as many actors in the film (said to be over 80 stuntmen),Rausch, Andrew J. (May 1, 2003). Hollywood's All-Time Greatest Stars. Citadel. p. 86. . while supervisor John Frazier controlled the special effects. Green, Van Horn, Leonard, Frazier, and production manager Valdez began close pre-production discussions three months before principal photography. To meet his stylistic lighting objectives in shaping the scenery environment, Green used powerful Musco Lighting developed during the 1980s. Commenting on a production scene surrounding the character of Pulovski at his residence, Green noted the home was characteristic of "359 degrees" of accessible turns of the camera. He detailed how the crew would "go in with these little ceiling units, as close to the ceiling as we could get them, little accent lights onto the place the actors would be. It would look like it was coming from those practicals but, again, at a dramatic angle."
Describing a stunt-related sequence early in the film performed by Eastwood, Van Horn, who had been a stunt associate for almost 35 years, took the opportunity to commend the actor on his contributions saying, "Clint likes to do everything live, ... When you read the script, you know everything is going to be pretty much live action. Sometimes you have to talk him out of something that just might be a little too risky. Not that he couldn't do it, but if something even minor should happen, you couldn't afford to suspend the production." The sequence which Van Horn alluded to, was a scene that involved Eastwood behind the driver's seat racing a Chevrolet Blazer through stop-and-go traffic, while swerving to avoid oncoming cars from the opposite direction. The scene included 20 other stunt drivers operating a carefully rehearsed formation through a head-on collision course. According to Van Horn, who engineered the sequence with Leonard, he noted, "The whole thing is like a football play, ... We all sit down and figure out where the cars are, where Clint makes the break out of traffic, where the other cars are going, and just the whole cause and effect for how and why he pulls into (the intersection) and decides to head on through. That's all worked out ahead of time." Leonard added, "In a situation where your rehearsal time is extremely limited, it becomes that old expression: experience, ... It becomes a seat of the pants kind of thing, about 20 drivers and Clint who know where the close calls are going to be and who's going to be in what position when. But once you get going, there's always the element of surprise, where maybe a car is 10 feet closer than it was expected to be, and a driver must react to that."