The Rookie

Name: The Rookie
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller, Crime
Released: December 7, 1990
Duration: 120 min
Rating: 41
Cast: Charlie Sheen, Clint Eastwood, Donna Mitchell, Lara Flynn Boyle, Marco Rodríguez

1990

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Ratings

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5.7

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5.7	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Ratings

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The Rookie

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Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. | Release Date: December 7, 1990 | TV-14

Starring: Charlie Sheen, Clint Eastwood, Donna Mitchell, Lara Flynn Boyle, Marco Rodríguez, Pepe Serna, Pete Randall, Raul Julia, Sônia Braga, Tom Skerritt

Summary: A veteran detective gets stuck with a rookie cop when in pursuit of a German crook.

Director: Clint Eastwood

Genre(s): Action, Drama, Thriller, Crime

Rating: TV-14

Runtime: 120 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

The film offers some disturbingly misogynist elements as well as a healthy dose of crushing violence. Still, those quibbles aside, this is a fun movie and a must-see for Eastwood fans. Read full review

Dave Kehr

The Rookie is a generally enjoyable variation on some extremely familiar themes, filled out with the most spectacular action sequences Eastwood has ever filmed and a good dose of the dyspeptic humor that is becoming the hallmark of his late career as an actor. [07 Dec 1990, p.C]

Owen Gleiberman

The plot makes almost no sense, and Eastwood directs in his usual toneless fashion. But in this case, the fact that you can’t always tell the intentional comedy from the unintentional isn’t necessarily a drawback. Read full review

Hal Lipper

The Rookie is the most brain dead action-thriller Eastwood has ever directed or starred in. It plays well as a comedy, but that isn't its intent. [07 Dec 1990, p.6]

Gene Siskel

It's hard to imagine what prompted Eastwood to direct and star in such a creaky vehicle unless this was his commercial payback to Warner Bros. for letting him make his excellent, financially disastrous White Hunter, Black Heart this year. [07 Dec 1990, p.C]

Staff (Not Credited)

Overlong, sadistic and stale even by the conventions of the buddy pic genre. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Only Sheen's hysterically inept handling of the godawful dialogue relieves the boredom. Read full review

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User Reviews

Steven1981

Mar 23, 2020

The Rookie is a 1990 action, crime thriller and is an okay film but not the best. I give it a seven rating merely on the grounds of the film actually being funny in some parts and the good action scenes and I think Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen get along pretty well even if at times itThe Rookie is a 1990 action, crime thriller and is an okay film but not the best. I give it a seven rating merely on the grounds of the film actually being funny in some parts and the good action scenes and I think Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen get along pretty well even if at times it feels the opposite sometimes in the movie the chemistry between the two is hilariously great and I love it. Clint Eastwood plays some cop called Nick Pulovski who's teamed up with some young rookie played by Charlie Sheen after the death of Clint Eastwood's partner by Raul Julia and his team of nasties. Rail Julia is the villain but The Rookie does deliver some hilarious moments and great acting and violence and bad language and the actors are all great but could be of been better and sort of has a buddy cop feel to it. Directed by Clint Eastwood I'd say The Rookie is okay but not the best movie around but it could of been so much worse.… Expand

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r96sk

Feb 4, 2022

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 'Lethal Weapon' or the succeeding 'Rush Hour' - I always recall the banter and thatDecent 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 'Lethal Weapon' or the succeeding 'Rush Hour' - 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.… Expand

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Compi24

Jul 23, 2020

While I think that, on the whole, the man's filmography ranges from "meh" ("Absolute Power," "Hereafter, "etc.) to "terrific" ("Million Dollar Baby," "Gran Torino," etc.) this particular Eastwood-directed movie is hard to apologize for. I'd probably even go so far as to say it's the worstWhile I think that, on the whole, the man's filmography ranges from "meh" ("Absolute Power," "Hereafter, "etc.) to "terrific" ("Million Dollar Baby," "Gran Torino," etc.) this particular Eastwood-directed movie is hard to apologize for. I'd probably even go so far as to say it's the worst one I've seen yet. "The Rookie's" first half plays out like what you sort of expect a movie on the lower end of the Eastwood entertainment spectrum to feel like. Slow, understated, but with some minor moments of levity and fun scattered about. The second half, however, takes a flying leap down the drain, as we're all of a sudden introduced to a whole host of new problems. Filled out with some frustratingly incongruous plotting, some truly horrific bit character acting and one of the most head-scratchingly out-of-place and unnecessary scenes I've ever seen in a movie like this, it almost felt like the second half of this was like a cry for help. My general rule of thumb with Eastwood movies is this — they're only as good as their script, because Clint (God, love him) sure isn't going to polish a turd with his admittedly by-the-numbers directorial style. And boy, oh, boy, what a turd this script is.… Expand

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