Everything about the dirty cop thriller "Pride and Glory" is formulaic and forgettable, even down to its generic title.

It could be an uplifting drama about a basketball team breaking racial barriers, or it could be about an elite squadron of World War II fighter pilots. You'd never know the difference, and it wouldn't matter anyway. Instead, "Pride and Glory" is an overlong saga of good and bad New York police officers battling for control -- a saga that plays out both in back alleys and quiet suburbs.

Edward Norton and Colin Farrell chew up the scenery and spit it back out again as brothers-in-law and brothers in blue. When a cop-killer takes down four of their comrades, years of schemes and resentments bubble to the surface.

It's no secret who is on which side: Norton's Detective Ray Tierney is the honorable one, and Farrell's Jimmy Egan, who is married to Ray's sister (Lake Bell), is on the take. But Ray's older brother, Francis (Noah Emmerich), whose men were killed in the opening ambush, is also a factor, as is patriarch Francis Tierney Sr. (Jon Voight), the head of the detective division.

These are Irish cops, and just to pile on the cliches, Ray and Jimmy have a climactic, knock-down-drag-out brawl at their favorite hangout, a bar that's literally called Irish Eyes, with Irish music blaring in the background. At Christmas, no less! Director Gavin O'Connor, who is as far away as humanly possible from the last movie he directed -- the 2004 crowd-pleaser "Miracle," about the gold-medal-winning 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team -- co-wrote the script with Joe Carnahan ("Narc"). O'Connor and his twin brother, Gregory, the sons of a New York cop, came up with the story along with Robert Hopes. In theory, these are people who know this world intimately, so it's mind-boggling that they were unable to breathe new life into such a well-worn premise.

For a film about violence and action, "Pride and Glory" has absolutely zero momentum, and the dark, muddled visuals from cinematographer Declan Quinn certainly don't help. There is, of course, the obligatory funeral featuring officers in their formal uniforms and bagpipes blaring on a bitterly cold winter day. You get the picture -- you've seen it all before.

- By Christy Lemire / Associated Press

Pride and Glory

Rating: 1 and a half stars (out of four)

Cast: Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Lake Bell, Noah Emmerich, Jon Voight.

Running time: 140 minutes.

Rated: R; strong violence, pervasive language and brief drug content.