All three cops had tragic endings... but who do you think had the most tragic?
My vote is for Sal.
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I'd have to go with Sal on this. He ended up getting shot in the back with pockets full of dirty money in his jacket. He also killed a bunch of dudes off duty.
He ended up having the most dishonorable ending in my opinion.
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Sal brought all of that crap on himself. He was stealing money, killing people, abusing his power. IF his wife was so bad, then send her to live with a relative. Rent a smaller house, whatever. Make due. He was doing all kinds of stupid crap.
Tango screwed himself by going after the bad guy and he signed up to be an undercover but still, he was just trying to do the right thing. He was getting screwed over by the police and he lost someone he considered a friend. He was trying create justice because the police denied him and his friend of it. In the end, his other life swallowed him up.
"Cool will get ya dead." -Former NBA Power Forward, Karl Malone
I mean, he didn't die, at least. He could finally be called a 'hero' or whatever now, having saved those girls. He was a good guy, and as far as we ever saw, he only ever did the right thing by civilians and cops alike. But being on the job for so long had depressed him, I think it's fair to say. But still, there are ways and measures to take to deal with that. So I like to think he'd have been okay.
Sal brought a lot of his troubles on himself. And tried very stupid ways to 'fix' the problems. But I don't think he saw any other ways out, and even if he did, I'm not sure his pride would have let him use them. Though tragic, his ending seemed to suit him... brought on by a stupid mistake.
Tango... well, again, like Dugan, his job ruined him. He did his job so well that he succumbed to the world he was stuck in. He asked to be brought out, to a different job, and to the discredit of the force or his overseer, they left him there. And then asked to do a big job before they pulled him out. He said he couldn't do it, and he was right.
It's really hard to decide. But I guess Sal's was probably the saddest. All those kids, and his wife, left all alone.
I'm not weird. I'm limited edition.
Well may be they'll arrange for the widow to get the $100'000 insurance they were talking about in the beginning of the movie. Something like: "...we get $20'000 a year, but when we get shot we receive $100'000. We are more valuable dead than alive."
shareYeah, I guess the 100k where mentioned because of that, but do their families really get that money even if the cop is shot while killing and stealing? Or only if they're shot in the line of duty?
I think it's the latter.
As to who has the saddest story... well, as mentioned, Sal brought it all down on himself. The first thing we see him do is kill a man for money, as the movie went on, he got more desperate und ruthless. Even though is motives were understandable, they were neither noble nor do they justify his deeds.
Tango gets hit pretty hard, losing everything he loves as his drug live consumes him - first his wife, his morals/ sense for right and wrong, and at last his criminal friend. It leads to him seeking revenge, not justice, so he is responsible for his own demise as well.
To me, the saddest story is the only main cop who survived.
He's utterly alone, empty, pathetic, lost, even lost his will to live, doesn't give a sh!t about anybody or anything (turning his eyes away from crime on several occasions, on and off duty)... but he can't bring himself to pull the trigger. I don't know how he gets out of bed every morning, he has NOTHING to live for, he doesn't get angry at anything, has no real emotion whatsoever... the only thing he hast left is "love" for a hooker, convincing himself that she doesn't put on an act for him, which she does. She knows it, we know it, he knows it...
Him walking in on her and that other cop, and him actually waiting outside until they finished... that was cruel, demeaning - he had absolutly no self respect left.
I actually hoped for him to get shot in his rescue attempt, because for him, death would have been salvation from his pathetic life. Him surviving makes his story even sadder.
My vote is for Ronny.
Probably the only honest cop in the entire movie, and he ends up shooting an undercover cop in the back.
Tango brought it on him self. He should just have stayed at home, figuring out what suit to wear to work the next day.
Sal's death will most likely be twisted some way so Angie will get her money (and new house). Just think of how creative they got when trying to safe face on the incident with the kid in the candystore.
I imagine Eddie could walk away with a redeemed sense of selfesteem. And a decent pension, and no longer stuck in a job, doing nothing for him than sucking him further down.
For me, definitely Eddie Dugan.
Sal's story reflects what happens when a good cop goes bad.
Tango's story reflects what happened when a good cop goes too deep undercover and begins to forget who he really is.
They both ultimately sacrificed their lives chasing a much bigger picture, they took the gamble, rolled the dice and lost.
But Dugan.... his story is probably one that a larger percentage of cops can identify with. He's 22 years in and no doubt seen a lot of very bad things, he's lived that life of being a cop and probably lost everything else in his life in the process. We know he had been married, maybe he had a family too. We don't get to see any of that, just a bleak existence and the job that has become his existence. He wasn't a bad guy at all, but was described as having a career that is not "extraordinary or commendable."
The thing is just doing that job in itself is extraordinary and commendable and I'd guess that's how the majority of cops see their careers play out. They do extraordinary and commendable things day in and day out, so those things become routine and normal. Yeah they have bravery awards and commendations but I'd guess only a tiny fraction of cops ever see such things. I'd guess receiving such reward is probably as much down to politics and who you know in the job as opposed to what you do. I'd guess many cops go through their entire career and do a lot of very brave and amazing things but when they go home at night they are just like anyone else, human again and nobody really gives a damn what they did or what they think.
This is highlighted in the scene where he hands in his badge. I doubt it's a true reflection of how retiring cops are treated on their way out, but it's poignant in the fact that Dugan himself was probably expecting something, anything, to show for the service he's given and sacrifices he's made for the job. But his badge gets thrown in a box with a load of other badges, and 22 years of his life are handed over without so much as a "well done."
He probably gets some level of redemption from saving the girls at the end, but again to me the poignant part of this is the girls go in the Ambulance, Dugan talks to some of his former colleagues and just simply walks away. Back to loneliness, back to nothing, the hero of the moment but the moment passed as quick as it arrived.
I don't think cops do the job for the glory or think they will be treated like heroes, but Dugan's story is probably being re told every day in Police forces worldwide. That in itself is definitley the most sad thing.
Well said, DaveyHaze. For me, Eddie Dugan was probably my favorite character. In fact, I'd have loved to have seen a film just about his character alone, and everything that he'd been through in his life. Maybe about his being divorced and/or widowed, his career, etc.
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