Review of Code of Silence (1985) by Joe A — 10 Apr 2012

In terms of overall quality, Code of Silence is probably the best movie Chuck Norris ever made. It may not be as fun as Lone Wolf McQuade or as over the top as Invasion U.S.A. but, it is the closest to a mainstream movie he was ever in till the upcoming Expendables 2.

Despite being a box office hit and a moderate critical hit as well, Chuck chose to then enter a multi-picture deal with shlock-meister Cannon films (probably the $17 million for 10 movies was key) and sank any chance of further mainstream theatrical success (None of his future films with Cannon would top Code's $20 million gross).

Code of Silence is a simple story of honest cop Eddie Cusack (Norris) who is not only stuck in the middle of a war between Columbian and Italian mob families but, is the only cop willing to speak out against a corrupt and incompetent fellow officer.

This makes Cusack an outsider to criminal and cop alike. Code is nothing new plot-wise but, is well paced and well directed by Andrew Davis who would go on to direct Seagal's best, Under Seige and The Harrison Ford starrer, The Fugative.

Davis also gets a good performance out of the often wooden Norris and makes good use of the Chicago locations. The flick has a nice supporting cast including vets Henry Silva and Dennis Farina and Dark Knight's Ron Dean and the action scenes are well staged and entertaining.

A bar fight scene in particular stands out as classic Chuck. All in all it's a solid action thriller and had Norris not been lured into staying with Cannon films, he might have had a more prolific movie career along side fellow ass-kickers Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme whose movies did very well in the 80s and 90s.