The Rookie is a 1990 American buddy cop action drama thriller film directed by Clint Eastwood and produced by Howard G. Kazanjian, Steven Siebert and David Valdes. It was written from a screenplay conceived by Boaz Yakin and Scott Spiegel. The film stars Charlie Sheen, Clint Eastwood, Raul Julia, Sônia Braga, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Tom Skerritt. Eastwood plays a veteran police officer teamed up with a younger detective played by Sheen (the rookie), whose intent is to take down a German crime lord in downtown Los Angeles, following months of investigation into an exotic car theft ring.
The Rookie premiered in the United States and Canada on December 7, 1990, grossing $21,633,874 in ticket receipts, just under its budget of $30 million. The film was overshadowed by the continuing success of Home Alone, which opened three weeks earlier and ended up being one of the top 100 highest-grossing films of all time. A financial disappointment, The Rookie was met with generally lackluster reviews. Critics considered it formulaic and shallow, and questioned the casting of the Puerto Rican Julia and the Brazilian Braga as Germans; a scene in which Eastwood was raped by Braga also generated some controversy. The stunts and special effects, however, were met with praise.
Plot
Nick Pulovski (Clint Eastwood) and his partner Powell attempt to bust some criminals loading a truck with stolen luxury vehicles; in the gunfight, Powell is killed. Nick pursues the fleeing truck, but the gang detaches the trailer with him on it. Now classified as a homicide case, Nick is taken off of it and assigned a new partner, "rookie" cop David Ackerman (Charlie Sheen).
Nick and a confused David continue investigating the gang; they go to a country club for lunch and see the criminals' leader, Strom. Nick confronts him and gives him Powell's broken and bloodied badge. Later, they go to a bar so Nick can talk to his informant, Felix. David gets in a brawl at the bar during which his badge is stolen; Nick, a regular, defuses the fight. Nick moves to enlist another gangster, Morales, by destroying his car at a junkyard. Morales succeeds in placing a bug in Strom's apartment but, upset at his earlier failure with the truck of stolen cars, Strom and his girlfriend Liesl kill him.
Now desperate for money, Strom holds up a casino. When the manager opens the safe, David and Nick emerge, having heard his plan through Morales' bug. Nick attempts to arrest them, but when David refuses to shoot an unarmed Liesl, they manage to kidnap Nick and shoot David. Strom demands $2,000,000 ransom and takes Nick to his chop shop. David emerges, having survived the ordeal thanks to his body armor. The police believe they cannot get the ransom money and consider Nick lost.
Determined to help Nick, David returns to the bar and demands information. He ends up starting a huge brawl and several fires, terrorizing the customers. He decides to visit the original informant, Felix, at his dry cleaner, but arrives to find another gangster, Loco, has killed him. Loco then assaults David, but escapes. David goes to his wealthy father for the $2,000,000 before informing his wife he has the money. She tells him the cops are looking for him since he has not checked in and that his Lieutenant is at their house. He promises to return but is arrested by two other officers who tell him the Lieutenant is looking for him; he realizes the "lieutenant" in his house must be an imposter and eludes the cops to rush home.
David crashes his motorcycle through his own front door to find Loco attacking his wife; in the fight, she ends up shooting Loco. His car reminds him of Strom's garage, where he goes to find Nick. After a strange scene in which Liesl films herself having sex with Nick, he manages to overpower her but falls into an elevator shaft and plays dead. Alerted by dripping blood, Strom sees Nick and tries to kill him. David arrives in time to run them off and save Nick. Nick then drives a convertible out the window of the upper floor to escape a bomb planted inside to destroy evidence and they continue their pursuit.
Nick and David manage to hijack a van Strom sends to exchange the money; they take it and follow Strom to the airport. David pursues and eventually kills Liesl while Nick pursues Strom. Strom eventually shoots Nick; David shoots Strom who also shoots David; ultimately, Nick gets his revenge on Strom. Some time later at the police station, David is finally considered a veteran cop, and Nick has been promoted to Lieutenant. Nick assigns David a new "rookie."