Timed to capitalise on the late-80s/early-90s vogue for buddy cop flicks, The Rookie features the unlikely pairing of Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen starring as, you guessed it, a grizzled old timer and his young upstart of a protégé. 

Eastwood, who also directed, is out to avenge the death of his partner at the hands of Raul Julia, the murderous head of an auto theft outfit.  Together Eastwood and Sheen must put aside their differences to infiltrate the gang, avenge the dead cop and bring the roguish cad to justice. 

It’s a fairly by-the-numbers affair, and in all honesty contains few flashes of the directorial brilliance that would later culminate in modern-day classics like Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino.  The clunky script is as stale as a week-old donut (sample dialogue includes ‘You want a piece of me?’ and ‘I’m gonna blow that shit you call brains all over my partners face’), Eastwood’s tough guy growl is grating and all throughout filming Sheen was in the midst of, surprise surprise, a fairly serious drug and alcohol problem.  In addition there are some startling idiosyncrasies of casting, with the Puerto Rican Julia and Brazilian Sonia Braga portraying German villains, and not always convincingly.  Sheen also feels somewhat subdued and is a far cry from his usual charismatic self. 

The film does have a few strengths, most notably its exhilarating car chases and the odd high-octane action sequence.  The HD surround soundtrack is excellent and powerfully emanates from the speakers, though unfortunately these explosions of sound aren’t complimented by the visuals, with the dark, grainy transfer containing numerous artefacts. 

At the end of the day the odd burst of adrenaline can’t compensate for a veritable cavalcade of cop movie cliches, cornball dialogue and some fairly lacklustre performances.  The Blu-ray release also wants for further incentive in the form of bonus features, with a theatrical trailer being the sole bonus.