‘Night Falls,’ and Interest in Moral Dilemmas Increases

In “Night Falls on Manhattan,” Andy Garcia plays a New York district attorney in charge of a police corruption investigation. His main problem? Finding out if his detective father is one of the dirty cops. Rated R.

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“Night Falls on Manhattan” is filled with moral dilemmas. Should you bend the rules to catch criminals? Is family more important than any ethical principle? How about sleeping with a woman who works for the enemy? Far from confusing or boring most teenagers, the movie’s implied questions seemed to excite them. Many wondered how they would respond in the same situations.

Shawn Freeman, 15, was typical. The Santa Ana teen said the film made him think about how hard it can be to do the right thing.

“It kind of looked like his dad might be a loser, and that was really tough” for Garcia’s character, Shawn said. “But he had to find out what was really going on. . . . That was hard for him, but he didn’t stop.”

Garcia’s D.A. does come through at just about every turn, which struck Paul Pierson, 14, as unrealistic. “He had it hard, but easy in a way too,” said the Anaheim youth.

Paul said he enjoyed the movie, mainly because the tension was always high. An early shootout between a murderous drug-dealer and what seems like a battalion of cops held his attention.

“It looked very real,” he said.

Paul also thought the D.A.’s first crisis, when he must put the dealer in prison despite signs that he’s involved with crooked cops, was intriguing. So did Paul’s friend Chelle Jordan, 15, also from Anaheim.

“It made me wonder about how far you can [bend] the truth,” she said. “Shouldn’t he have gone after [the police] too?”

Chelle also thought “Night Falls” had a nice element of suspense in the relationship between the D.A. and his father, whose partner has been taking bribes. There’s a heavy suspicion that the father, who claims to be clean, may be a lawbreaker.

Garcia “was really good,” Chelle said. “I could see he was really worried” about his dad and what he was up to.

Paul added: “You could tell he loved him and didn’t want him to be a bad guy.”

The boys separated from the girls on the romance between the D.A. and one of the drug dealer’s attorneys, played by Lena Olin. Paul and Richard Gallego, 13 and from Tustin, said they felt the relationship was window-dressing, while Chelle said she thought it added much to the film.

“They helped each other” through one shared crisis after another, she said. “I liked that.”

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The Parent Perspective: Adults who brought their kids, and some who didn’t, tended to agree that “Night Falls” is a good film for youngsters, as long as they aren’t too young. They pointed out that the themes are important and the violence, although it comes in spurts in the beginning, is not too graphic.

“I wouldn’t have a problem taking either my son [who is 12] or my stepdaughter [14],” said Jeffrey Lanz, 35, of Anaheim. “It was complicated at times, but it had some good points.”

Sondra Pine, 38 and also from Anaheim, agreed. She attended with her 14-year-old son, Ricky, and said they both enjoyed it.

“He didn’t seem bored, and I think there’s stuff there that we might talk about later,” she said. “I don’t think I’d bring someone [as young as] 10 or 11, though. . . . They’d probably be too confused.”