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Hollywood Homicide

Hollywood Homicide

List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $17.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: NOT REALLY A COMEDY, BUT A LIGHT-HEARTED ROMP THRU COP LIFE
Review: Harrison ford and Josh Hartnett play homicide detectives investigating the quadruple murder of an up-and-coming rap group. Yet, no, don't go in expecting a nailbiting police procedural.

The film is strewn with several cliches but I fail to see why reviewers tend to compare it to "Lethal Weapon" and "Rush Hour." The partners are not mismatched, not constantly annoying each other , and it is filled with interesting characters that make up for the generic storytelling.

Ford's character for instance moonlights as a real-estate agent who, despite not having sold a house in some time, dabbles in the business because being a cop can't pay the bills. Hartnetts character takes yoga lessons, in the process meeting women. This makes even the most generic scenes seem fresh and new.

So, when watching an otherwise predictable car chase, you will find yourself worrying more about the characters reactions than the actual car chase itself. This is a film that relies more on characters than action and eye-candy. You will probably wear a slight grin on your face when Hartnett re-enacts "A Streetcar Named Desire" on the balcony of a Beverly Hills condo, or when Ford closes a real estate deal on his cell phone in the middle of an intense gunfight.

Yes, the story is stale, but the characters are not, and that is probably the point. "Hollywood Homicide" puts itself a step above other cop films by offering characters (or caricatures thereof) that we can actually care for.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Amusing Enough.
Review: Joe Gavilan (Harrison Ford) is a veteran Los Angeles police detective who moonlights as a real estate agent to pay his numerous alimony commitments. K.C. Calden (Josh Hartnett), Joe's young partner of 4 months, makes extra cash as a yoga instructor but really wants to be an actor. When three members of an up-and-coming rap group are murdered at a night club in an apparent assassination, Joe and K.C. are assigned to the case. What looks at first to be a gang shooting appears more sinister and complex as their investigation progresses. Meanwhile, the partners are dogged by an Internal Affairs investigation of Joe, which has been instigated by an old rival, Lt. Macko (Bruce Greenwood), whose motivations are suspect.

For "Hollywood Homicide", director Ron Shelton teamed up with writer and veteran L.A. police officer Robert Souza to make a movie that shows the audience some of the realities behind the badge of L.A. police officers. "Hollywood Homicide" concentrates on the fact that many L.A. police officers have second jobs which at times may conflict with their duties and exploits this conflict to comic effect. "Hollywood Homicide" gives a strong impression of police detectives trying to do two jobs at once. In fact, Joe and K.C. so often have their minds on something else that they seem unprofessional, and you may wonder when they have time to consider the murder investigation at hand. The film's saving grace is that it is so relentless in showing us characters that are thinking about one thing while doing another -Joe selling real estate while pursuing a suspect, K.C. promoting his play everywhere, musicians who want to be screenwriters, groupies who want to be actors- that it eventually becomes laugh-out-loud funny. This is also one of those films that couldn't have been made in an era before cell phones. They chime constantly, but that just becomes annoying. Everything in "Hollywood Homicide", with the exception of the murders, is played for comic effect: chase scenes, the Internal Affairs investigation, the multiple jobs and lofty aspirations. Sometimes it gets bogged down in banter, but the film gets funnier as it goes along. Recommended to those seeking mildly amusing light entertainment.

The DVD: My hat is off to this DVD for including the widescreen and full screen versions on the same disc. Bonus features include a director's commentary, filmographies (just lists) for director Ron Shelton, writer Robert Souza, and the two principal actors, and theatrical trailers. Ron Shelton's director's commentary, which can be enabled during playback, is the only notable extra, and it's pretty good.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Poor Story, Weak Direction... but a Good Chase Scene
Review: Okay.. I nearly fell asleep a few times during the first hour of the film. Harrison Ford walked through his part in this film and he deserves better, and Harnett, though potentially talented, is simply NOT convincing as the sensitive, metaphysical yoga instructor-cop. Never mind, it was fun to see Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson and Frank Sinatra Jr. in bit parts... the familiar landmarks around Hollywood, and the chase scene at the end of the film is really good... but it's not enough to save this film for me. OH, by the way, this is supposed to be a comedy.. it is NOT. It has some humorous IRONY in it, but NEVER comedy. Martin Landau is great in his part... but its all too brief.... too bad.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Don't believe the hype, it ain't all that bad
Review: Let's cut to the chase. Hollywood Homicide is not a classic. It's not Beverly Hills Cop, Lethal Weapon, or even within sniffing distance of Chinatown. It's borderline whether or not it can be classified as a comedy or not. For all that, it's a harmless piece of amusement that has lots of little disparate elements which individually are appealing but which never gel into a cohesive unit. Sure it's annoying, but it doesn't mean the film is a complete waste of time.

What the film has going for it: the overall concept, the location, the sardonic travelogue quality/tribute to Los Angeles, Martin Landau, Ron Shelton's track record as a director, a great car chase sequence, and some very funny character quirks on the part of Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett. Yes, these are not things to hang your hat on, but they do provide some good moments. Ford never looks quite comfortable and Hartnett is fine once you accept that fact that he's just an overgrown goofball, but the plot is flimsy at best and seems to be just a sideshow for the interplay between Ford and Hartnett.

One other note about Harrison Ford - his image is such that for him to step into what is perceived as a comedy is almost a culture shock. You don't know whether or not you should laugh or feel awkward. Me, I tended to laugh more often than not.

Ron Shelton has proven himself to be a very competent filmmaker and if he missteps here a bit, it's not for lack of trying. You can see that somewhere in this mess there's a decent film but it shouldn't be the audience's responsibility to find it. Nevertheless, it's not the worst thing to come out in the last couple of years and I for one enjoyed most of it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Homicide's DOA
Review: Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett star in "Hollywood Homicide", an action comedy that has a lot to say about the sillieness of buddy-cop movies. Ford and Hartnett are partners assigned to investigate a nightclub massacre. The problem is that neither one of them really want to be cops; Ford has a real estate buissness on the side and Hartnett is an actor off duty. I am sorry to say that there are no stand out performances here, which is sorry to say considering the outstanding cast involoved. Ford and Hartnett are usually very good, but here they are just, well, blah. Lina Olin is just kind of there in a very rediculos subplot involving her psycic powers. Isaiah Washington, Lolita Davidovitch, Keith David, and Matrin Landau are all underused in their bit roles. The problem is that it wants to be a comedy, but it isn't very funny, too many cliches. It isn't very action packed, either. The only real action piece is at the end, but it is too long, and it just dosn't seem to have any punch to it. I was very disappointed, I am truelly sorry to say. If you can find it on TV, that would be best. All I can say in it's defense is that It's biggest problem is that it feels like no one was really trying, it is just a lazy movie all the way through. It's only defense is I have seen much worst.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: hollywood waste of time and talent
Review: harrison ford is playing a over the hill grandfather of a cop in his 60's moon lighting as a realestate salesman and the handsome josh harnett playing the doof partner.

get a real storey with substance, harrison ford does have a fan base, but stay away from the hip hop element or sound track, it just annoys people seeing that in a theatre.

harrison ford get a face lift, ya look like a worn out old man !

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Homicide's DOA
Review: Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett star in "Hollywood Homicide", an action comedy that has a lot to say about the sillieness of buddy-cop movies. Ford and Hartnett are partners assigned to investigate a nightclub massacre. The problem is that neither one of them really want to be cops; Ford has a real estate buissness on the side and Hartnett is an actor off duty. I am sorry to say that there are no stand out performances here, which is sorry to say considering the outstanding cast involoved. Ford and Hartnett are usually very good, but here they are just, well, blah. Lina Olin is just kind of there in a very rediculos subplot involving her psycic powers. Isaiah Washington, Lolita Davidovitch, Keith David, and Matrin Landau are all underused in their bit roles. The problem is that it wants to be a comedy, but it isn't very funny, too many cliches. It isn't very action packed, either. The only real action piece is at the end, but it is too long, and it just dosn't seem to have any punch to it. I was very disappointed, I am truelly sorry to say. If you can find it on TV, that would be best. All I can say in it's defense is that It's biggest problem is that it feels like no one was really trying, it is just a lazy movie all the way through. It's only defense is I have seen much worst.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: More like suicide
Review: I wouldn't recommend this unless there is nothing else on the shelf with an A-list actor that you might slap up. Actually A-list? Hmmm... Harrison Ford does not provide on the goods there and certainly something has gone wrong. I wonder if this latest opus of "Please help Mr. Ford pay his alimony" has anything to do with why I watched it. Maybe Mr. Ford might sometime do what it is that we pay to see him do. What happened to his little 'on-the-side films' like Witness? This was a leading man for a generation of Sci-Fi trilogy watchers and probably the greatest adventurer on the screen. He should know better. So should Josh Hartnett.... So should an actor I was beginning to hope to see a lot better from - Bruce Greenwood. This flick is a nothing. It's everything that is wrong about Hollywood today. These three actors are great but Hollywood Homicide is more like Hollywood Suicide when all is said done. This is a bomb of a movie. A real stinker and everyone should know better including the director Ron Shelton who brought us another cop piece that was actually quite good - Dark Blue. I do not know what went wrong or why they did this. The movie has no genre. It is somewhere between a cop buddy parody movie and a love fest for the two co-stars who like to do nothing more than make money on the side (In more ways than one) through legit second jobs like teaching yoga and selling houses as a real estate agent. This is more akin to an episode of Sex in the City. Forget about the homicide in the title. It is something that doesn't motivate you in the least. You don't even pay any attention to it for that. I have forgotten what it is? Something about a rap record producer assassinating people with a hit-man who just happens to have connections with Harnett's dead dad. So why did I watch it? It reminds me of Showtime from DeNiro or Pluto Nash or I Spy or something like one of these really silly Eddy Murphy flicks. Yeah - like that. So is this the kind of material that deserves to be called Ford's greatest turkey? Probably yeah, it is actually. So here it is for the bottom of his pile. It's rubbish. It is Ford not going well at his trademark Ford funny™. Hartnett probably just passes as the token kid but hams it up considerably. Bruce Greenwood is a big disappointment who does some grinning now and again. Even Dwight Yoakam does not repeat much of what he had to offer in Panic Room.

*Cluck Cluck* Thanksgiving has a new contender.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Sorry to Say This But What Ever Happened to Harrison Ford?
Review: Yes, the basic idea is this. Make a buddy-buddy cop action with two bankable stars, one veteran and one upcoming. And throw some humor (of sort) in between the actions, plus the cameo appearances. Then you get "Hollywood Homicide" which is, I frankly say, a total misfire case of how not to make a film.

The story is about two cops Harrison Hord and Josh Hartnett, whose main concern seems to lie not in arresting the criminals. They both have some part-time job (real estate agent and yoga instructor), which are more lucrative than police jobs (now, the script is provided by Robert Souza, ex-police officer in homicide division, so I do not question this part).

And one hip-hop group are gunned down (reminding us of some real-life incidents), and the case throws the pair into the investigation behind the music business. But of course, you see many twists and turns of the story ... which are so many that I started to lose interest. Probably you will, too.

The problem is twofold; the film has too many sub-plots, which only detract our attention. The actions happen, but it is not easy to tell who is who (or who is not who). The film seems to mock the trend in Hollywood celebrities by introducing yoga or fortune telling, but this part just makes us feel "So what?"

The other problem is its misguided humors. Harrison Ford is guilty of being too comical, but it just does not work. The idea of his riding a bicycle when chasing a bad guy looks funny if the cop is played by actors like Jackie Chan, whose down-to-earth character makes the situation natural. In Harrison, whose best remembered role is still Indiana Jones, it is simply embarrasing and impossible.

Slightly interesting is the film's cameo. There are so many of them -- Eric Idle, Robert Wagner, Lou Diamond Philips, Frank Sinatra Jr., Gladys Knight, and even Smoky Robinson but few are effective. Perhaps, some of them refer to the famous cases involving celebrities (British Eric Idle arrestd or Philips in women's dress, both of which remind us of the two real-life incidents), Whatever they are, these brief cameo appearances are amusing for about ... ten seconds.

Maybe, as the title suggest, the greatest thing about the film is its location -- Hollywood. You can see many famous places of the Tinseltown, plus an unexpected glimpse of Venice Canals. And compared with the fine locale, the film's actors (including Lolita Davidovich, wife to the director Ron Shelton) are all boring. Excuse me for giving this negative review, but the lack of charisma of Harrison, Josh, et al is too painful to see.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: This is a bad movie
Review: The movie is very bad. I really didn't like it all. Hopefully in a couple of years Harrison Ford will end his mid-life crisis, get rid of his earring, dump Colista Flockhart, and start being in good movies again. But until then we're gonna have to suffer with stuff like this.


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