“Assault on Precinct 13” is a clash between a cop thriller, a morality tale and occasional humor. These genres work well together and the film gives them their moments. But it also employs an old and reusable storyline which I affectionately call “The Rio Bravo Syndrome.” You’ll know why in a minute.

Precinct 13 is an old police station ready to be torn down. A stormy New Years Eve leaves two cops and a secretary on grave-yard shift. When a prison bus transfer is delayed by a highway accident, they hold up at the precinct until further notice. But one of the prisoners is a notorious cop killer awaiting trial. Suddenly, a small army tries to invade the station supposedly to free the cop killer. The cops and the prisoners team up to defend the station and deal with traitors among them. See, almost identical to the plot of “Rio Bravo.”

The two cops are Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke), a former under-cover cop where his command left two of two partners dead (he now drinks and takes pills to easy his pain) and Jasper O’Shea (Brian Dennehy), a veteran on the verge of retirement. The secretary, Iris Ferry (Drea de Matteo), has a turn on for “badass” guys. The cop killer is Marion Bishop (Lau-rence Fishburne), who always has a quick cool about everything. The other prisoners are Beck (John Leguizamo), a babbling drug addict, Smiley (JaRule), a street counterfeiter and Anna (Aisha Hinds), a criminal pro-claiming her innocence. Marcus Duvall (Gabriel Byrne) is the intelligent and ruthless leader of a small arm.

French director Jean-François Richet, in his American film debut, knows how to use his characters. No one takes more screen time than they need to. Byrne can play any bad guy to its best, it’s all in his eyes. Fishburne can carry any film with just his presence. Hawke is no John Wayne, but playing the idealistic honorable cop once again (Training Day), isn’t cliché or boring, just assured that he can do it and do it well.

After seeing this film and other recent cop films, such as “Narc,” “Training Day” and “Dark Blue,” the persona has changed; Hollywood has acknowledged the realism of being a cop. They are out of shape, have families that worry, struggle to pay the bills, cope with alcohol and risk their lives. For that, I am grateful.