The Choirboys (Blu-ray)

From Robert Aldrich, the acclaimed director of Vera Cruz, Attack, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Dirty Dozen and The Longest Yard, comes this raunchy, hilarious black comedy exposing the everyday lives of ten metropolitan policemen. Charles Durning (True Confessions), James Woods (Cop), Louis Gossett Jr. (Diggstown), Perry King (Class of 1984), Randy Quaid (The Long Riders), Don Stroud (Coogan’s Bluff) and Burt Young (Rocky) lead a group of rank-and-file policemen from the Los Angeles Police Department, who look for ways to cope with the pressures of the job. Dubbed “choirboys” for their after-hours shenanigans, they meet for “choir practice”—periodic relaxation sessions at which the group gets drunk, chases women, plays practical jokes and reveals their innermost fears. This fast-paced, outrageous comedy gives an eye-opening glimpse into the lives of the boys in blue, who follow a simple gospel: work hard, play harder. Based on the novel by legendary novelist and ex-policeman Joseph Wambaugh (The New Centurions, The Onion Field, The Black Marble).