Mod Squad - Cops auf Zeit

So many reviews I have read rail on the poor quality of the film. The two biggest complaints are lack of adult dialogue and lack of action. Me, I thought it was one of the best movies I have ever seen. They are kids, not adults. That's the way kids talk. As far as action, I found the emotional struggles to be far more compelling than the action scenes (which, do not, BTW, define a good film). One user even commented that there is no way kids could get around by themselves like that. I was a kid living on the streets when I was younger, and what they accomplish in the movie is certainly not the least of what I have personally witnessed on the street.

For those who think only kids like this movie, I am 24. I think this film has been judged by all the wrong standards, and that not enough credibility is given to this straightforward portrayal of kids in trouble.

If you think kids are incapable of these things, try watching the movie "Kids."

Three young petty delinquents Julie (Claire Danes), Pete (Giovanni Ribisi), and Linc (Omar Epps) are recruited by detective Greer (Dennis Farina) to work undercover where cops can't normally go. They are sent in to a club to investigate. When they find Greer murdered, they set off to find his murderer even though they are ostracized by most of the police. Meanwhile Billy (Josh Brolin) from the club is interested in Julie.

The lighting is way too dark for most of the movie. I understand the underground sensibility of their investigation. However it makes it hard to watch. Ribisi is good playing the jokey jittery guy. Epps is way too stiff of an actor. Danes is probably miscast here. I've never seen the TV show, and the movie is probably trying to copy Peggy Lipton. It seems better if they go more white trash for the role like a Juliette Lewis kind. Dane is way too nice and sweet. I don't know what the original TV show is like. So it's hard for me to compare and judge the movie. There is some good music but by itself, the movie is kind of boring.

This movie was a gargantuan disappointment on nearly all levels. Based on the late-60s/early-70s TV show, the movie could have been a hip, funny update OR a straight, reverent recreation from the period which it came from. Alas, the filmmakers botched it with a dull, hackneyed "dirty cops on the inside" plot we've seen countless times before. The direction is stiff and Character development is sorely lacking, making it impossible for us to grow any attachment to them. And for what's supposed to be an action film, there's a definite lack of energy and visual pizzazz.

Claire Danes and Omar Epps are fine (if a bit too low-key) in their roles, but Giovanni Ribisi gives one of the most highly annoying performances in recent memory. He plays his character (Pete Cochran) like some doped-up, marble-mouthed clod. Even if everything else in the film were fine, his performance here would still be a serious detriment.

What could have been a classy, fun film is rendered an unfortunate misfire. OH, what Quentin Tarantino could have done with this material!!

60s and 70s television show remakes are everywhere. "Charlie's Angels" and "Starsky and Hutch" are just two of the more profitable franchises (the latter of the two bringing in $28 million in its first week). But both of those series tend to have fun with what they're parodying, rather than remaking. "The Mod Squad" is basically just a remake of the show of the same title, minus any real sort of substance and humor, and only a low amount of actual fun. It could have been a blast, but it's just rather mediocre.

Three young delinquents (Claire Danes, Giovanni Ribisi and Omar Epps) are recruited by a cop (Dennis Farina) to infiltrate many various operations (prostitute rings, drug circles) that police could never get into. But after their boss is murdered and they uncover a conspiracy, the three delinquents take it upon themselves to find out the truth behind the crime.

2.5/5 stars.

• John Ulmer

The plot is pretty weak, even for a 60s TV show remake. "The Mod Squad" ran from 1968 - 1973, with somewhere in the vicinity of 120 episodes. I never saw any, but I can't imagine this film adaptation does the show much justice.

The cast is considerably OK. Danes is quite enthusiastic and pretty enough for her sweet-blonde role, Ribisi is fine as a criminal and Epps is decent enough, too. Farina ("Get Shorty," "Another Stakeout") is a good actor, always very funny, but here his role is completely wasted (literally!) and short on the sort of sly humor that would have been appropriate given the actor behind it.

The dialogue is really corny, and so are the characters' actions. Television shows need not worry about smart dialogue or characters, because they're usually 30 minutes long (sometimes an hour), and we just get "hooked" on what's going on. Can you imagine if a soap opera made its way onto the big screen? It'd completely flop. People watch television shows because they like to see continuous stories with recurring characters they learn to love over a certain time period.

You can't get any joy out of watching a bunch of actors try to grow on you for 90 minutes. If "Alias" had ever started out as a big-screen movie, it might have flopped, because let's face it: the show is not exactly quality material. People watch it because they get hooked on it, and they enjoy watching the stories and the revelations, like an old woman addicted to her "General Hospital" episodes.

So here's proof that if "The Mod Squad" had originally been a movie, there probably would have been no television show. Despite some rather bad word-of-mouth, this movie isn't a terrible one. I've seen much worse, and compared to big-screen disasters like "Freddy Got Fingered," or low-budget ones like "The Blade Master," this is nothing very laughable at all.

But compared to the fun factor of "Charlie's Angels" or "Starsky and Hutch," "The Mod Squad" falls flat on its face. It's not very funny, it's not very fun, and it's not very original. It's a cash-in, which is something Hollywood is not in short supply of right now. If you miss "The Mod Squad," you're not missing anything that hasn't been done before.

The Mod Squad

The worst part about employing young undercover cops is they binge drink at house parties and break cover.

Thankfully, the covert trio in this action movie are too busy tracking a killer to attend ragers.

Opting to work for the police in a new department instead of serving time, Julie (Claire Danes), Pete (Giovanni Ribisi) and Linc (Omar Epps) are trained in the art of infiltration by their mentor Capt. Greer (Dennis Farina).

But when Greer ends up on the wrong side of a drug lord's gun, the motley crew must bring his killer to justice.

A slapdash adaptation of the groundbreaking counterculture cop drama from the '60s, this 1999 version lacks the social and political undercurrent of its source material.

Instead, it's a lifeless and shoddily acted knock-off - similar to the original in name only.

Besides, immature undercover officers today can't stop posting on Twitter about being undercover.

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