Hollywood Homicide

Reel Critic Grade: C Running Time: 111 Minutes Rated: PG-13

In the opening scenes of Hollywood Homicide, K.C. Calden (Josh Hartnett) and Joe Gavilan (Harrison Ford) stand ready at a police shooting range. When the signal horn blows, they begin firing their weapons at the dark silhouetted targets. Gavilan has no problem putting multiple bullets where he wants when he wants. Calden, on the other hand, couldn't hit he broadside of a Hollywood studio sound stage from ten feet. Gavilan sees his partner's struggle and aids Calden by shooting a nice pattern into his target, presumably so Calden's lack of skill won't be discovered. Well written scripts often use symbolism in the first few minutes to give the audience a hint as to what they're about to see. In Hollywood Homicide, writers Robert Souza and Ron Shelton use this tool perfectly; this is going to be a buddy-cop movie whose story misses the mark, but with a few well placed laughs and car chases, the audience won't discover its lack of skill. Hollywood Homicide pairs two stellar actors with a rambling script to create a film that should be arrested for lack of entertainment.

The story follows Joe Gavilan and his young partner K.C. Calden. Gavilan is a veteran detective who doubles as a fledgling real estate agent. Calden is a yoga instructing, health-food eating, skirt-chaser who is certain life would be more fulfilling if he were an actor instead of a cop. The film has Gavilan and Calden working a multiple murder investigation in which four up-and-coming rappers are gunned down at a Hollywood hip-hop club. Throw in a nasty internal affairs cop trying to pin a bogus wrap on Gavilan and a who-killed-my-cop-father subplot and you have a film that follows in the now knee-deep footprints left by the extensive list of buddy-cop movie predecessors.

Ford and Hartnett do an admirable job with what they are given, but their characters don't come through as ones we want to root for. Both characters are "Merv"; which is a term I use to describe middle-of-the-road. They're not good, they're not bad - they're just "Merv". This is a blemish in the writing, not the acting. The character sketches are scattered, with thin back story and character arcs so shallow they look more like straight lines. There just isn't enough at stake for Gavilan and Calden to win the audience's buy in.

Two bright spots in the film are Lena Olin, who plays a psychic named Ruby, and Lolita Davidovich who plays Ferre Salesclerk (now that's a name), a modern-day Hollywood Madam. They're bright spots not for their acting, which is fine, but because their just so much fun to look at. I only bring this up since the girls get to ogle over Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett. Shelton at least balanced the talent for equal opportunity viewing pleasure.

Hollywood Homicide touts a host of cameo roles in the film. The hip-hop community shows off Master P, Kurupt, and Atlanta's Dre. Eric Idle, of Monty Python fame, has a few lines. Lou Diamond Philips dresses in drag as an undercover cop playing a prostitute. Gladys knight and Smokey Robinson are there. Robert Wagner plays himself, receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And Martin Landau rounds out the star-studded cameos as a famous Hollywood producer trying to sell his house through Ford's Gavilan character. It's fun to see celebrities pick up bit parts, but it often detracts from the story telling and in Hollywood Homicide that's the case.

Writer/director Ron Shelton has worked on several films of note including Dark Blue(2003), Tin Cup(1996), White Men Can't Jump(1992), and Bull Durham(1988). He is also a writer for the upcoming Bad Boys II, staring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Shelton is a talent in both writing and directing. He tells a first-rate story and has the eye to make the written page come to life on screen, but even the best writer/directors have missteps along the way; look at Steven Speilberg's, A.I.

In the end, Hollywood Homicide tries too hard to be uniquely familiar in an over-worked genre. The buddy-cop film done well is a balanced blend of riveting suspense, hilarious comedy, and fast-paced action. Hollywood Homicide, try as it might, never fully taps into any one of these elements; much less blend them into a winning concoction that delights the audience's taste buds. Ron Shelton and the buddy-cop genre will survive this misdemeanor offense, but the audience won't be such an easy victim the next time around.