

The Rookie
Packing years of experience and a .45 automatic, L.A. detective Nick Pulovski figures he's got all the help he needs. He's also got all the help he doesn't need. His new partner is The Rookie.
Veteran cop Nick Pulovski is used to playing musical partners; many of the partners he's had in the past have died on the job, and often as a result of Nick's risky tactics. But the rookie who's been assigned to help Nick bust a carjacking ring is almost as hotheaded as he is … and when Nick gets kidnapped, his newbie partner is his only hope.
TMDB
5.9/10
648 votes
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- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $10M
- Box office
- $21.6M
- Language
- English
- rookie cop
Top billed cast

















Behind the camera
Director
Writers
Music
Produced in
United States of America
Where to watch
All optionsAvailability for United States. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.
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Videos
Release dates
United StatesUS
- PremiereRWestwood, California6 Dec 1990
- TheatricalR7 Dec 1990
United KingdomGB
- Theatrical18Cut for 15 theatrically21 Jun 1991
AustraliaAU
- TheatricalM24 Oct 1991
DenmarkDK
- Theatrical1519 Apr 1991
FranceFR
- TheatricalTP26 Jun 1991
GermanyDE
- Theatrical1818 Apr 1991
IrelandIE
- Theatrical1818 Jan 1991
ItalyIT
- Theatrical5 Apr 1991
SlovakiaSK
- TV15TV Markíza6 Dec 1996
South KoreaKR
- Theatrical189 Feb 1991
SwedenSE
- Physical157 Dec 1990
Frequently asked questions
The Rookie was released on 7 December 1990.
Audience reviews
5- W4/10
Wuchak
3/10/2019
***Eastwood’s forgettable detective flick with Charlie Sheen*** This is another Clint Eastwood cop thriller. What immediately comes to mind? The five Dirty Harry films, right? Or “The Gauntlet” (1977)? All great or near-great Eastwood cop pictures. So you'd expect the same from 1990's “The Rookie,” costarring Charlie Sheen as the sidekick. Well, you'd be wrong. Something keeps “The Rookie” from attaining the h…
- R6/10
r96sk
2/5/2022
Decent action flick, rubbish buddy cop movie. The reason for the latter is that Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen just don't really work as a pairing, when I think of great buddy cop duos - see the preceding <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/lethal-weapon/" rel="nofollow">Lethal Weapon</a>'</em> or the succeeding <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/rush-hour/" rel="nofollow">Rush Hour</a>'</em> - I al…
- G10/10
GenerationofSwine
5/14/2023
There is a movie with James Woods that I keep mistaking for this one. Anyway, it falls under the "What did you expect?" category of flick. It's not good... it's not bad either. No one expected it to be a box office bomb, no one expected it to be the next big thing either. They set out to make a fun and entertaining throw away cop movie and that was exactly what they ended up making, a fun and entertaining a…
- J6/10
JPV852
1/5/2026
Pretty paint-by-numbers buddy-cop movie where Eastwood pretty much plays a Harry Callahan and Charlie Sheen completely miscast as the titular rookie character. Raul Julia, a Puetro Rican playing a German, seemed to be having a good time at least. The action and stuntwork was at least top notch making for an enjoyable enough watch even if the movie was a good 15-20 minutes too long. Certainly this was Eastwood's lesse…
- K8/10
kevin2019
6/9/2026
"The Rookie" is a well paced action film throughout and it is enormously entertaining. It finds Clint Eastwood eagerly returning to the overly familiar territory of "Dirty Harry" (1971) yet again in literally explosive and sensational fashion. The story never really manages to get out of first gear, although it does allow Eastwood to indulge himself not only with Sonia Braga - or is she indulging herself with him? - …
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