Prince of the City (1981)

Synopsis: Sidney Lumet returns to the complex and interwoven worlds of New York City police and criminals in his grand-scale film PRINCE OF THE CITY. The cops from the Special Investigative Unit are known as Princes of the City, working out of uniform and closely together, like a renegade family,... Sidney Lumet returns to the complex and interwoven worlds of New York City police and criminals in his grand-scale film PRINCE OF THE CITY. The cops from the Special Investigative Unit are known as Princes of the City, working out of uniform and closely together, like a renegade family, peppering their drug-fighting duties with payoffs and behind-the-scenes drug deals of their own. Lumet's complex and operatic film commences with just such a deal, with Danny Ciello (played with swaggering magnetism by Treat Williams) and his squad busting a group of Colombian drug lords and netting themselves a clean $48,000 on the side. When Ciello is called in for questioning by the Chase Commission investigating police corruption--like Serpico before him--the seeds of doubt and guilt lead him into a dangerous game of truth and lies as he begins to inform on his colleagues. At first the adrenaline gleaned from the illegal activities of the SIU carries over to the equally dangerous tasks of ensnaring his fellow cops; however; as the countdown to redemption and revenge becomes fever-pitched, Ciello's resolve begins to crumble, so does his carefully constructed world of family, informants, stool pigeons, and partners. [More]