Hollywood Cops

I've always been a fan of Harrison Ford and odds are I always will be, regardless of what comes out of his personal life now. Considering how Hollywood can screw a man up, Harrison still ranks as one of the few to have successfully held his head together. That and I usually find something entertaining his films. It's hard not to be entertained by him in the old Star Wars films, where he was hilarious as Han Solo, or to root/feel for him in the Indiana Jones trilogy and films like "Blade Runner", "Witness", the Jack Ryan films, "The Fugitive" and "Air Force One".

Thing is, "Witness" marked the turning point of Harrison's career in which he would mature into the modern day quiet, reluctant hero. Understandably, after playing this role again and again for about 20 years Ford would naturally want to go back to playing things a little funnier than he had previously been allowed. It's a bit of a shame that he picked such a weak script for a return to comedy. All in all, it's just an excuse to let Harrison reprise his Han Solo persona as an older man. But in the opinions of some, his age dried him out, preventing him from being as funny as he used to be.

This one tries very hard to be both apart OF the mismatched buddy cop genre AND to make fun of it. As a result, it never quite realizes it's potentially funny premise or even serve as usual time filler.

Ford plays Joe Gavilan, a cop working real estate on the side and Josh Hartnett is his younger partner KC Calden, who works a yoga class on the side, sleeps with his customers and is also an aspiring actor. They get assigned to solve the murder of an up and coming rap group and are repeatedly dogged by Bruce Greenwood as Ford's nemesis. The cliche of Josh's dad being a cop who got killed by way of his partner could have been left on the cutting room floor.

Ford and Josh do the young cop/old cop bit as well as anyone else, but Ford deserves a better than this, and after "Black Hawk Down" Josh should be more picky about his vehicles. The only real comic highlight is when they're being interrogated and are either mouthing off or playing quiet. This is the only gem in an otherwise dull film.

Here's hoping they both make better decisions in the future.

I really enjoyed watching Harrison & Josh acting together. It was a fun, action-packed film with two great hunks! They made it look like they enjoyed filming it too. I always enjoy watching Harrison Ford! The only time he freaked me out was in What Lies Beneath, at the end.

I was really worried going in to see "Hollywood Homicide". The reviews quoted in the TV commercials are all from smaller media outlets and articles that I've read suggest the film makers couldn't make up their mind whether it's a comedy or an action film. After seeing the movie in the sneak preview, I know the film makers knew exactly what they they were making - a flat out comedy with some good, funny action sequences. The plot seemed well thought out -- a real web of deceit plays out during the course of the film. All the actors turned in solid performances. I'm not a fan of rap music, but the film makers blended rap (which makes sense because of the rap industry crime) with Motown and incidental music seamlessly. A bad score jumps out at me, but it all fit here. It's one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. The humor is all character-driven, never slapstick or forced. Look for lots of cameos, too. My husband had one criticism - he thought things weren't wrapped up enough at the end. I think it's well enough implied that justice will be served. So five silver movie reels from me and here's hoping "Hollywood Homicide" makes a killing at the box office. -- Auriette Lindsey

I went to see this movie not expecting much from a Star who you least expect to be funny, but Ford is funny, but I am not sure about Hartnet. The movie is gripping with some amazing car chases, courtesy of the Digital editors. I happen to be seeing Italian Job on the same day, I came out thinking it was well worth my money since I have squandered my earnings on hollywood decadance that started with Beutiful mind.

HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE (2003) ** Harrison Ford, Josh Hartnett, Lena Olin, Bruce Greenwood, Isaiah Washington, Keith David, Dwight Yoakam, Lolita Davidovich, Martin Landau, Master P, Lou Diamond Phillips, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Kurupt, Dre, (Cameo: Eric Idle; Robert Wagner as himself). By-the-numbers cop/buddy flick with Ford and Hartnett as gruff and flaky (respectively) LAPD detectives on the case of a rap group assassination while attempting to juggle their moonlighting gigs as real estate broker and wanna be actor (respectively) with a more-miss-than-hit attempt in the laughs department sadly by the out-of-touch script by director Ron Shelton (who acquits himself however in the action sequences including a smash bang-up thrilling car chase along Hollywood Boulevard) and Robert Souza that may have worked 20 years ago with its punchy takes at how LA is a town of many colorful characters on the make at something other than their boring careers (in this case police work). Although it is nice to see Ford's natural humor break through his bristling scowly demeanor Hartnett is miscast and clearly has no knack for comedy; that's the real joke.