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Hollywood Homicide (2003) |
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OVERVIEW
- Two Los Angeles
Police Department homicide detectives, one a grizzled veteran (Harrison
Ford) and the other a young yoga instructor and aspiring actor (Josh
Hartnett), investigate the onstage murder of a rap group, possibly
organized by the boss of a top rap label. Starring Harrison Ford, Josh Hartnett, Lena Olin, Bruce Greenwood, Isaiah Washington, Lolita Davidovich Director(s) Ron Shelton Screenwriter(s) Ron Shelton, Bob Souza Studio Columbia Pictures |
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Harrison Ford has a
weathered and over-used look that veteran movie stars get in their later
years, when they no longer can to knock us out with looks and energy. That
comfort level serves him well in "Hollywood Homicide," an
unsurprising but pretty entertaining L. A. cop thriller with Ford playing
maverick LAPD cop Joe Gavilan, a grouchy old pro who sells real estate on
the side and works in amiable friction with a younger, less streetwise but
quite dashing nonetheless partner (Josh Hartnett). It's probably the best role Ford has had in a while. The best movie he has been in too. Writer and director Shelton, a specialist in sports type movies ("Bull Durham," "Cobb"), has gotten into cop thrillers this year ("Dark Blue"), and he has a deft touch and the eye for smarts for this kind of picture, peppered with wit, savvy and machismo. Here, he's taken one of the oldest (lamest?) and most clichéd of Hollywood genres, the buddy-buddy cop movie. And he's done a good job of keeping this flick from being just another yawn fest of back slapping cop-types who wind up as heroes, despite their unorthodox ways! Actually unlike many similar movies ("Lethal Weapon," "Bad Boys," "Rush Hour"), "Homicide" has something of a realistic base. The movie suggests, correctly, that in L.A., where almost everyone wants to break into the movies or somehow exploit the people who do, even the cops can have second jobs -- and even they want to break into show biz. So Ford's Gavilan hustles real estate on the side, and Hartnett's K.C. Calden is a yoga instructor and aspiring actor. They're also a homicide team assigned to a gangland-style execution in a local hip-hop club, with cocky club owner Julius Armas (Percy "Master P" Miller) and suave record mogul Sartain (Isaiah Washington) among the suspects. "Hollywood Homicide" is more relaxed and jokey than the neglected, (and in my view, underrated) "Dark Blue," a movie in which Kurt Russell's veteran, wisecracking cop vaguely suggests Gavilan here. At its best, "Hollywood" has a breezy irreverence and easy, sunny L.A. atmosphere in keeping with a movie he did a while back... "White Men Can't Jump!" Here though, the hustle is life itself. "Hollywood" draws Joe as an ace cop with a smart-aleck streak whose home life is a mess. Ford (who has sucked recently in flat yawners ("Random Hearts") and weak comedy-romances ("Sabrina," "Six Days, Seven Nights"), gets to be irascible -- a Walter Matthau type pouring scorn on his clients, his suspects, his LAPD antagonists and even his apple-cheeked young partner. But the main joke is that the cops' second jobs keep either snarling up their investigations, or presenting them with opportunities to make a deal because of them. (Ford tries to sell the club owner a house soon after he arrives on the murder scene! Clients call Gavilan as he's in the middle of a high-speed chase, and Calden has to set up his 'showcase' performances of "A Streetcar Named Desire" or scuttle off to one of his yoga classes while digging into the club hit. To add further complications to the plot, Shelton and co-writer Robert Souza (a retired LAPD detective) have also added a nasty internal-affairs investigator, Bennie Macko (Bruce Greenwood), a vindictive rotter who's obsessed with busting Joe. Bennie, the jealous ex-mate of Joe's current lover, Ruby (Lena Olin), monitors Joe's contacts with madam and informer Cleo (Lolita Davidovich). Most big studio movies have too few characters and subplots; "Hollywood Homicide" is riddled with them. In addition to everything else, club owner Julius and Hollywood producer Jerry Duran (Martin Landau) are part of Joe's real estate deals. And among the suspects and witnesses in the hip-hop slaying are transvestite hooker Wanda (an offbeat cameo from Lou Diamond Phillips) and Venice resident Olivia Robidoux (Gladys Knight, without the Pips). Olivia's digs are the excuse for a hilarious paddle boat chase through the Venice canals. (There is even a cameo from... actually I'm not gonna spoil it for you, but this h=guys 12 second spot is worth the price of a tiket alone! So funny I had to play it over several times before moving on!) Anyway I had a pretty good time watching "Hollywood Homicide". Ford and Hartnett also supply an interesting sexual tension -- tension between the old stud who's losing it and the young stud who gets it without even trying. At the same time, the movie kids its own mercenary strategy, with Ford hired to bag the older audience while Hartnett, supposedly corrals the youth market. Everybody, it suggests, is part of the Hollywood hustle -- including the people making this movie. It's definitely over the top and somewhat slaphappy, especially in the zany silent comedy-style chase at the end. But it's an entertaining movie that delivers exactly what it seems to promise: slick, fast, old-pro amusement. | |||
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| Clubhouse Clint's movie review archives... | |||
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About me... Hi, I'm Clint, and I have been asked to do a movie review column for AsiantTS.com, or more specifically the magazine that accompanies it: The Clubhouse. I am a writer based in Asia and Europe, and I have been widely published worldwide. I enjoy watching movies, and have written at length on this genre for many years. | |||
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| Email the stogie at [email protected] | |||
