Code Of Silence Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1985

Code of Silence is a Chuck Norris film that is a bit more story-oriented and realistic than most of his other works, featuring him as a Chicago cop trapped between two rival crime families as he tries to keep the innocent daughter of a mob boss alive. To make matters worse, he has alienated his fellow officers by testifying against one of his own. But anyone that enjoys Chuck Norris films realizes that he's at his best when he's a one-man army anyways…

Chuck Norris films have never claimed to be high art, but they are generally great guilty pleasures to pass away a couple hours. Code of Silence proves to be no different, offering up plenty of chases, shootouts and brawls from the opening credits to the over-the-top finale.

Eddie Cusack (Chuck Norris) and his partner Dorato (Dennis Farina) are staking out an apartment complex in the seedy side of Chicago, where a drug transaction is going down between a dealer and the Comacho crime family. Unbeknownst to the cops, there are some other individuals also interested in the objects of their attention: a band of assassins working for the rival Luna crime family.

All hell breaks loose when the Luna assassins open fire on the Luna patriarch and his henchmen. Amidst the chaos, a supporting police officer, Cragie (Ralph Foody), accidentally guns down a child, but rather than admit to his error he plants a gun on the kid to make the killing look justified.

Neither situation goes down terribly well for Cusack, who is honest to a fault and refuses to cover up Cragie's wrongdoings. When he testifies against the killer cop, the rest of his fellow police officers give him the cold shoulder and refuse to back him up when extra assistance is necessary.

And boy is assistance needed, for the hit on Victor Comacho has infuriated his son and new mob family leader, Luis Comacho (Henry Silva). With the fury of a woman scorned thrice over, Luis orders his men to hunt down and kill every member of the Luna family, whether members by gang or members by blood. Women, children… it doesn't matter; if they are related to Luna they must die.

Cusack comes to the rescue of Diana Luna (Molly Hagan), the daughter of Tony Luna (Mike Genovese), the head of the Luna family. Unlike her father, Diana condemns all illegal activities and mob behavior, but although she has nothing to do with the gang war or the participants it's still up to Cusack to keep her protected from those who would try and do her harm.

Code of Silence serves up fairly realistic action scenes and a nicely paced storyline. That is, until the end when Cusack must face the might of Comacho and his family all by himself. At that point realism goes out the window as Chuck Norris goes into full-blown "Rambo" mode, single-handedly wiping the floor with his opponents.

It's common for humor to be injected from time to time in Norris movies, but that element has been minimized in this film. The only real humorous moments to be had in Code of Silence are zany business plans that Dorato shares with Cusack as well as a scene where two hapless robbers try to stick up a crowded bar… which just happened to be a police hangout.

The acting is serviceable, but not great, across the board. I enjoy watching Chuck Norris in action, though the glee he usually exhibits was missing here (though that's largely because the film was intended to be grittier and darker). Dennis Farina is also a favorite of mine, and although his appearances aren't all that frequent, he is fun to watch when he's around.

Henry Silva did a wonderful job as Luis Comacho – he reflected just the right amount of arrogance and menace that one would expect to see in a mob leader. All the rest of the actors get the job done, but they don't inspire.

That's a pretty good way to sum up Code of Silence as a whole, actually. It was entertaining to watch, but doesn't offer anything that will emblazon itself into your memory once the film concludes. I suspect the reason for this is the gritty and dark feel of the film – while the story makes for a good movie, it somehow doesn't suit Norris as well as films like Lone Wolf McQuade, which was absolutely fantastic. Norris is at his best when he's spitting out one-liners in between handing out beatings to thugs and miscreants without having to worry about a deeper plot.

Nevertheless, if you enjoy Chuck Norris films and/or 80's action flicks, chances are you'll want to pick up Code of Silence. It may not be his best film, but it's definitely solid.

Movie rating: 7 stars

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