In brief: Sleep-inducing.

Written by Ron Shelton and Robert Souza
Directed by Ron Shelton

---Cast:
Harrison Ford Joe Gavilan
Josh Hartnett K.C. Calden
Keith David Lt. Fuqua
Lolita Davidovich The Madam
Bruce Greenwood Bennie Macko
Martin Landau
Master P
Lena Olin Ruby
Isaiah Washington Sartain
Dwight Yoakam

There’s not much to say here. Hollywood Homicide is your standard action/cop/buddy/comedy. There isn’t anything new or interesting here. The only distinction is the premise that Gavilan and Calden have or desire other jobs or careers, and that doesn’t count for much. There’s no conflict arising from that premise, and the film is otherwise an empty vessel. A hollow shell. I actually nodded off a bit during the film. When a friend of mine that I invited to an earlier screening later told me it was a bit long, I thought he meant that it was over two hours. But at an hour and 54 minutes (not counting closing credits), I understand what he meant. It just seemed really long. If my coworker Abby, who also detested it, and a couple of other coworkers, who liked it are any indication, then I’d guess that reactions to it might be split. Some will like it, some won’t.

---NITS:
When Gavilan stops the repo men who took his car, he orders the one on the driver’s side to get out, walk in front of the car, and get down on the ground. A shot shows that guy doing this, and then the next shot shows him doing it again from a different angle.

What exactly is Macko arrested for at the end of the movie? They never say what the charge is. I suppose it relates to his investigation of Gavilan and Calden, which was meritless, but I can’t think of any specific criminal charge to apply there. Perhaps subordination of perjury, since he made a deal with Lolita Davidovich to testify that she had relations with Gavilan? But then, he’d have to have known that that was untrue, and the cops would need proof of this to arrest him, which was not indicated at all in the scene. They just show up and arrest him.

Why do Sartain and Dwight Yoakam’s character (I forget his name. Wellsley? Wussly?) fire at Gavilan and Calden at the end of the movie? When Gavilan first went to interview Sartain, Sartain greeted him and allowed the interview. By the end of the movie, they have no more on either one of them than they did in the beginning. So why in the world does Sartain flee, fire at cops, and run up to the top of a building? Why good will this do him? He should just stop and let Gavilan and Calden ask him whatever they want.

I just saw a trailer for this film on tv last night. The only thoughts I had were (1) Hollywood's trying to cater to two different generations of movie-goers in one film with two popular leading men and (2) this looks kind of lame.
Some films attract me on their star power alone, but this isn't one of them, and the trailer didn't make the plot look all that enthralling, either. I don't mean to keep dissing a film I've not yet seen, but I'm not likely to see it based on the ad. To it's credit, though, it didn't seem to spoil the entire plot of the movie, like many trailers do.

CR: True enough, but my pick for Best Trailer of 2003 (so far anyway) is the one for 28 Days Later.

I have to agree with Luigi on this flick. Nothing special. Pretty standard.

And the final climatic chase/fights just seemed chaotic and wild. Too insane to take seriously at all.

And the whole sequence is too long in my opinion. I sat there thinking as much as I watched. If they had cut a bit out of it perhaps they could have answered things like why Macko was arrested. They also never tell us exactly why Gavilan is arrested.

In the rooftop fight scene you can see in a number of shots what is very obviously Ford's stunt double. Frankly this is probably another film where the actor, in this case Ford, is too old for the character he's playing. Someone Ford's age would likely be retired, or at the very least far higher up the food chain in the LAPD.

Calden being a wannabe actor fits the hoary old cliche about every second person in Hollywood wanting to be an actor. Did anyone else get the impression during the acting showcase scene that Landau's character looking at the Nasty script was leading up to a bit that never happened? I expected him to corner Calden, tell him his acting sucked, but then tell him he was interested in the script.

During one scene Ford refers to his house on Mt. Olympus as being on Mt. Olympic.

Anyone else find Harnett's features remind them a bit of Jan Michael Vincent?

Its interesting how in the opening night club murder we don't actually see the victims getting hit. Similarly when Yoakum's character caps the hit men we see the shooting at a distance.

I'm pretty sure that at least some of the extras in the subway scenes were visible at both stations even tho' they didn't get on the train Sartain did.

I think we're being too harsh on the film. The movie is obviously not intended to be a great action/cop film--Ford and Hartnett are two of the worst cops put on celluloid (they solve their case via dumb luck). Sartain is one of the least ambitious and moronic villains around (he ends up kiling himself, d'oh). Rather, it's sort of a hazy look at making a living and the Hollywood scene. It's almost like Shelley Levene from Glengarry Glen Ross working as a cop on the side.

None of the film makes sense (and a lot of it shows signs of heavy editing with the script). Subplots are brought up and then discarded (as mentioned above, the Nasty script, but also much of Macko, as well as the informant).

Ford and Hartnett were shredded by the critics, but they actually do a nice job. I heard "lack of chemistry," but to me, it seems realistic of two men of vastly different interests and backgrounds being partnered together. Each do their worst stuff in scenes where they're "trying to act" (mainly their love scenes).

I love them in particular during the chase sequences. Ford trying to commandeer a van only to be punched by a big dude. He switches to a women's bike, barking and growing at her. He then finally snags a cab, still shouting. Hartnett steals a van with a family, spewing yoga-esque revelations to calm the children. The rest of the film could really stand to be this inspired, but there you go.