It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Based on true-life events, this film tells the story of a New York City cop named Danny Ciello (Treat Williams), whom the Feds ask to be an informant against local police corruption. Ciello is in his twenties, street-savvy, and extremely loyal to his cop buddies. He doesn't trust the Feds, but he's willing to help them. I'm not sure why.One would think that an informant has a clear-cut, unambiguous job: snitch on the bad cops and, in return, earn the status of hero. But reality doesn't always lend itself to neat, black-and-white options or outcomes. In this case, shades of gray complicate Ciello's life, because he knows that some of his best cop friends have indeed compromised their ethics in pursuit of serious criminals. He is caught in the middle, between local loyalty, and assistance to the American ideal of criminal justice.The story takes place in the 1970s in New York City. Ciello is part of the city's Special Investigating Unit, which has a generally free hand in dealing with dope pushers and other shady types. Even Ciello has sold drugs to street junkies, in exchange for information on bigger fish. Does this make Ciello culpable now that he's an informant?When a person gets trapped in the American legal web, there's no easy way out. That's Ciello's dilemma, and the essence of the story's theme. Ultimately, we feel sorry for the guy, with his naive, idealistic, black-and-white mental conception of right and wrong. Clearly, the Feds are using Ciello to their advantage, and most of them are portrayed in this film as smug and condescending.Technically, "Prince Of The City" is a fine film, one to take seriously. Color cinematography, sets, casting, and acting are all quite good. Visuals look very 1970s. Treat Williams is convincing as Danny Ciello.But the film is rather talky. And the runtime extends to almost three hours. The plot is so strung out, and there are so many characters, it's hard to keep track of who's who as well as some of the characters' motivations.The film could easily be described as a typical cop drama. But its basis in historical fact makes it more compelling. More than anything else, "Prince Of The City" is a character story of a man under pressure. We see how he deals with that pressure in the choices he makes. We see the impact that his behavior has on his family life and on those around him, who not only depend on his loyalty but also expect him to uphold principles of justice, regardless of where the chips may fall.

***SPOILERS*** Overly long and ponderous crime drama involving an elite squad of New York City detectives who take the law into their own hands in fighting the drug epidemic that pledged the Big Apple back in the 1970's. The way these elite cops fight crime is by ripping off the drug dealers that they bust and then, being illegal aliens, ship them off on the first boat or plane back to their native country.With the Chase Commission breathing down corrupt cops necks one of the members of this elite group of law enforcers Danny Ciello, Treat Williams, seeing the writing on the wall decides to come clean. Danny will talk and use a wire but only on dirty politicians and lawyers, as well as D.A's, but not cops especially those cops, or partners, that he works with. This very "high and noble" effort on Danny's part, which was really to save his own hide, has him record hundreds of conversations between him as well as lawyers hoodlums and junkies that in the end would result in some 30 convictions. Danny also gets all of the members of his elite squad indited with the exception of the weak willed and suicidal Officer Bill Mayo ( Don Billett), who ended up blowing his brains out, for crimes that Danny himself committed!It's hard to work up any sympathy for the cops in the movie "Prince of the City" in not only how greedy corrupt as well as, when they's riding high, arrogant they are but how totally lacking and unwilling their in taking their punishment when caught! This to the point of giving up their best friends or partners to the Chase Commission inquisitors in order to save themselves.Danny who's supposed to be the hero in the movie is so gutless and wimpy when he's caught with his hand in the cookie jar, by perjuring himself 40 times after he supposedly came clean, that it seems like the biggest crime in the movie is him getting off Scot-free in the end! Were told by the D.A's office that the only reason that Danny was sprung was that by inditing and convicting him after ratting on his own fellow cops, as well as other members of the law enforcement community, no one like him, a corrupt cop who gets nabbed, will come forward in the future to do the very same thing! Way to go Danny Boy!The movie goes into the sleazy business of cops being drug suppliers to junkies to get information on their suppliers which in fact is who the police are! We see a number of hair-rising scenes of junkies going into convulsions and almost dropping dead because they can't get their fix that are as disturbing as anything you'll see in a slasher horror movie. Danny who's arrogance and false bravado in showing how tough, as well as stupid, he is has him expose himself to his fellow cops as well as the hoodlums that he's secretly recording. This, with his cover now completely blown, has Danny become such a crying sorry a** of a man that even his old lady Clara,Lindsay Crouse, has in the end far more male testosterone's then he does. The at first macho, where things were going his way, Danny Ciello turns into a Valium popping crybaby by the time the movie is just about over when he gets his big moment testifying in open court. Danny by then afraid of his own shadow needs to get himself up to testify by downing at least three Valium tablets, chased down with a couple shots of scotch, just to get on the stand!The most telling scene in the movie has to do with Danny having a talk with his Mafia Uncle Nick's, Ronald Maccone, good friend Mafia soldier Rocky Gazzo, Tony Munafo, who incidentally Danny was setting up by secretly recording their conversation. Rocky somehow sensing what a back-stabbing wimp Danny is tells him right to his face what he, which the movie proves, never would dream of doing. Do you think I'm afraid of going to jail! I spent half may life behind bars and most of the time I spent there was for keeping my mouth shut and not ratting out my friends Rocky tells Danny. That's something that Danny as well as the sh*t-kicking elite members of his drug-busting unit would never have the guts, even to spend one day behind bars, to do.

Sidney Lumet's "Prince of the City" is an astonishingly in-depth portrait of the interlocking worlds of the police and the criminal. Dealing with drugs, cops and corruption, this is "Serpico" all over again, but it's revised, enlarged and in some places improved.Like "Serpico", this is also based on a true story. Treat Williams plays Danny Ciello, a cop working in an unsupervised special unit of the police force, whose methods of gathering evidence and confessions are somewhat unorthodox. However, when his conscience gets the better of him and he decides to blow the whistle on the corrupt behaviour in his department, Danny finds himself in the awkward position of having to choose between saving his own job and those of his partners, whom he refuses to indict. Though most people ignore him, Lumet's films sparkle with a sort of gritty authenticity. He's influenced everyone from Spike Lee to Scorsese, and many films owe their tales of corporate corruption and grungy moralising to Lumet. "Prince of the City" may itself be long and at times taxing, but its final 20 minutes make the long haul worth it, particularly Lumet's final lines, a direct challenge aimed at his audience.8.9/10 - Underrated.

Prince of The City - Sidney Lumet's overlong melodrama about a cop who turns informant is out on DVD.This 1981 Big Apple corruption flick features great performances by Jerry Orbach and Bob Balaban- but focuses around Treat Williams.The first third of the movie features most of the action-including a heart-breaking sequence where Treat helps a snitch score drugs(look for a cameo by a young Cynthia Nixon) and an action packed big score with his squad.But doom is looming in the air- hell the sound design in the first scene leaves no mistake that foreboding and bad tidings are in the offing. I have not seen this flick since it ran on TV in the 80s.The agonizing last 2 thirds of the movie is a mix of speeches and screaming about lies,morals and trust and it is an unrelenting parade of mental hopscotch as the protagonist tries to to protect his friend's from the long arm of the law and his testimony.The DVD has a decent featurette about the movie and the book and has the person the movie is based on.A good movie is lurking in this package- too bad the editor sabotaged the deal with leaving almost everything in(167 minutes). C+