The Rookie

"Packing years of experience and a .45 automatic, L.A. detective Nick Pulovski figures he's got all the help he needs. He's also got all the help he doesn't need. His new partner is The Rookie."

1990 2h 1m EN

😐

5.9

MID

★5.9TMDB · 647

ActionCrimeDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Veteran cop Nick Pulovski is used to playing musical partners; many of the partners he's had in the past have died on the job, and often as a result of Nick's risky tactics. But the rookie who's been assigned to help Nick bust a carjacking ring is almost as hotheaded as he is … and when Nick gets kidnapped, his newbie partner is his only hope.

“Packing years of experience and a .45 automatic, L.A. detective Nick Pulovski figures he's got all the help he needs. He's also got all the help he doesn't need. His new partner is The Rookie.”

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Cast

Clint Eastwood
Nick Pulovski
Charlie Sheen
David Ackerman
Raúl Juliá
Strom
Sonia Braga
Liesl
Tom Skerritt
Eugene Ackerman
Lara Flynn Boyle
Sarah
Xander Berkeley
Blackwell
Coleby Lombardo
David's brother

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writers: Scott Spiegel, Boaz Yakin
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

36 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Jack N. Green. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Lennie Niehaus. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen and Raúl Juliá carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Packing years of experience and a .45 automatic, L.A. detective Nick Pulovski figures he's got all the help he needs. He's also got all the help he doesn't need. His new partner is The Rookie.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0100514 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Clint Eastwood directs. Jack N. Green behind the camera. Lennie Niehaus scores. Joel Cox cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

136 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Jack N. Green. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Lennie Niehaus. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen and Raúl Juliá carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Packing years of experience and a .45 automatic, L.A. detective Nick Pulovski figures he's got all the help he needs. He's also got all the help he doesn't need. His new partner is The Rookie.".
7IMDB entry: tt0100514 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jack N. Green
Original score: Lennie Niehaus
Editing: Joel Cox
Production design: Judy Cammer
Stunt coordinator: Terry Leonard
Runtime: 121 min · 2h 1m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $10,000,000
Box office: $21,600,000
Return: 216% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Rookie (1990)

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Clint Eastwood

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2019-03-10
★ 4/10
Eastwood’s forgettable detective flick with Charlie Sheen This is another Clint Eastwood cop thriller. What immediately comes to mind? The five Dirty Harry films, right? Or “The Gauntlet” (1977)? All great or near-great Eastwood cop pictures. So you'd expect the same from 1990's “The Rookie,” costarring Charlie Sheen as the sidekick. Well, you'd be wrong. Something keeps “The Rookie” from attaining the heights of those other Eastwood cop films. It even pales compared to “Tightrope” (1984) and “Blood Work” (2002). Don’t get me wrong, there are some entertaining elements and the thrills certainly pick up in the overblown last act, but the flick’s too contrived and even falls into camp territory at times. Furthermore, Sheen’s unconvincing as a tough cop who can singlehandedly take down a bar on the wrong side of town, not to mention the miscasting of Latino’s Raul Julia and Sonia Braga as German villains. While Braga is stunning, she’s not utilized to her potential; neither is Lara Flynn Boyle. Meanwhile Tom Skerritt is wasted in a trivial role as Sheen's rich dad. So this is a disappointing, even laughable Eastwood cop flick and rightly forgotten. The constant macho f-bombs don't help. Still, there are enough engaging moments to make it worth catching if you can laugh with it. The movie runs 2 hours and was shot in the Los Angeles area. GRADE: C/C-
r96sk2022-02-05
★ 6/10
Decent action flick, rubbish buddy cop movie. The reason for the latter is that Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen just don't really work as a pairing, when I think of great buddy cop duos - see the preceding '<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/lethal-weapon/" rel="nofollow">Lethal Weapon</a>' or the succeeding '<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/rush-hour/" rel="nofollow">Rush Hour</a>' - I always recall the banter and that the two are subconsciously looking out for each other. Here, it just felt like Eastwood and Sheen weren't connected - despite being policing partners. The action elements help raise this film from the depths though, as all the set pieces and stuff like that come off - there's one scene that Michael Bay would love, I'm sure. The support cast are alright too, I recognised - among one or two others - Xander Berkeley and Tony Plana. Despite those (minor) positives, the initially mentioned parts override them in 'The Rookie'. These type of films need to make you love watching the two leads together, but here I simply didn't - they make for an average partnership, at best.
GenerationofSwine2023-05-14
★ 10/10
There is a movie with James Woods that I keep mistaking for this one. Anyway, it falls under the "What did you expect?" category of flick. It's not good... it's not bad either. No one expected it to be a box office bomb, no one expected it to be the next big thing either. They set out to make a fun and entertaining throw away cop movie and that was exactly what they ended up making, a fun and entertaining action flick. And that is all it is, something to like and throw away, so it did it's job.