Q & A
a film by Sidney Lumet

How the supporting cast in this film supports or challenges the lead character of Francis Reilly or his main antagonist Mike Brennan? Talk metaphor, race, stereotypes and archetypes.


Sidney Lumet wrote and directed Q & A, for which he brings to life the seedy goings on of corrupt police, the mafia, an even dirtier district attorney and the young strong willed but good natured Asst. DA. Made in 1990 this film portrays the death of the me decade, the selfish, Reagan/Thatcher idioms of the day.
Every character in this film at one point or another has their own personal agenda within the overall storyline, this makes for selfish motivations and everyone wants a piece of the pie. Nick Nolte as Captain Lt. Mike Brennan NYPD is the epitome of this greed, he murders in cold blood a man out side of a nightclub. This establishes his guilt very early on and thus the film itself is more of the investigation closing in on him and like any metaphorical cornered animal will fight for its life to get out. Asst. Dist. Atty. ‘Al’ Francis Reilly is the one assigned to the case from here he investigates for an hour of screen time before even suspecting Brennan of shooting the victim in cold blood. This again is a product of the selfish stereotypes represented in this film, Reilly is a son of a cop and a former cop himself, and thus for respect of the profession and the man, he at first refuses to believe that Brennan acted unlawfully. What this does is allow the main antagonist (Brennan) to be as mean, cruel and ruthless as he likes and we as an audience despise and hate him for it. Because no one sees it but us at first it leaves the other characters as mere chess pieces being manipulated.

Assigned to help Reilly are two cops who have worked closely with Brennan in the past one of whom even served in the marines in Vietnam with Brennan. This stereotypical buddy cop dynamic is challenged very harshly in this movie, as the character Chapman implies quite near the end he is a cop first and a friend second. At one point Brennan challenges Chapman’s friendship by guilt tripping him with Vietnam stories, and blackmailing his other cop/friend Valentin with his involvement in gangs before becoming a policeman. Chapman and Valentin are respectively of African-American and Latino origin, this in and of itself adds another layer to this dynamic. The supporting characters challenge Brennan (unknowingly though) to keep one step ahead of Reilly up to the point where Reilly begins to suspect Brennan of murder and not killing a man in self defence. Aspects of their race and the life they had before they were cops continues to pop up as a metaphor for redemption. Brennan is a cop beyond redemption, his greed and fear are what motivate him, he is the archetypal villain. But still this does not excuse the amount of clichéd characterisation within the film. Again Brennan's former cop friends and Reilly’s current cohorts, though performing admirably in their roles, stink of racial cliché. Chapman and Valentin are there as motivators, supporting characters with little to resolve after the death of Brenna, merely relief that a killer has been stopped.

This issue of race is prevalent throughout Q&A so much so that every characters ethnicity is established implicitly as soon as they are introduced. Brennan’s racism and homophobia is not exactly as an opposite to Reilly, more so Reilly sees in Brennan all the things he loathes in himself. Reilly on the other hand can fit into the stereotype of the good natured, green, Asst. DA that is ambitious, he knows the streets though as a former cop himself, we want him to find a case against Brennan. This case develops when we are introduced to the Puerto Rican drug lord who is dating Reilly’s ex girlfriend. Again a stereotype made flesh and a stereotyped story, boy meets girl, girl leaves boy, girl shacks up with polar opposite person in the form of a drug dealer. Bobby Texador owns the club the man is murdered outside of, his personal guests at the time were two Mafioso having drinks. All four of them, the girl, the drug dealer and gangsters appear at the Q&A along with the atypical sleazy New York lawyer. This film is about race and honour above all things, problem is Reilly’s investigation challenges his honour, his mentor indeed has his own agenda against Reilly’s new boss Quinn. Q&A is an implicit metaphor of the racial tension with New York, this ethnic melting pot boils on to the screen with all the stereotypical characters needed to make it convincing but still not enough depth to satisfy.

“Reilly’s investigation turns up many unsavoury characters, all marked by the distinctive ethnic characteristics stamped out by Hollywood. There’s the Italian mobster, the noble black cop, the Puerto Rican drug lord. If Mr. Lumet cares so deeply about divisive stereotypes, why has he stocked his film with nothing but?”1


Bibliography
1. Salamon, J. Wall Street Journal: Leisure & Arts. Article: Lumet’s ‘Q&A’ Heavy on Radical Cliches. (Eastern edition) New York, N.Y.: Apr 26, 1990, pg A12