Zona de impacto

RELEASED IN 1993 and written/directed by Rowdy Herrington, "Striking Distance" stars Bruce Willis as Tom Hardy, a Pittsburgh detective who's demoted to river rescue. A serial killer returns after a two-year absence and bodies of beautiful women start turning up in the river, all women whom Hardy used to date! Sarah Jessica Parker is on hand as Hardy's partner on the river, Jo Christman.

The movie has a bad reputation. Roger Ebert tore it to pieces, basically saying it was too derivative and by-the-numbers, and Willis himself said he hated it. I can understand criticism to a point. The story has a melodramatic comic-book vibe, which is obvious in the opening act, almost like a TV production except with a superior cast and action scenes. But, and this is an important "but," I found myself drawn into the story & the characters and greatly enjoyed the rare Pittsburgh locations, as well as the (melo)drama and thrills. In other words, the movie is entertaining and entertainment is the name of the game.

This is a cop thriller in the manner of the Dirty Harry series, especially "The Dead Pool" (1988), except it's more comic booky and taking place in Pittsburgh rather than San Francisco. It's also reminiscent of films like "The General's Daughter" (1999). Although not technically as good as the Dirty Harry movies or "The General's Daughter" due to its cartoonish-ness, "Striking Distance" nevertheless pulled me into the lives of the characters and, for the most part, furnished the requisite thrills.

The generically-named movie (also akin to the Dirty Harry franchise) was originally called "Three Rivers," a much better title simply because it's more specific, but was changed at the last minute because the marketing department feared people would think it was a sports movie due to Three Rivers Stadium, so they switched it to "Striking Distance." Why "Striking Distance"? The first hint is at the beginning of the movie when the title card shows two electrical bolts coming out from either side of the title. Later we observe the mysterious killer using a stun gun before killing his victims and, with a stun gun, you must of course be within... striking distance!

Speaking of the killer, one element of the plot I haven't mentioned is that this is a whodunit. Someone is charged with being the killer early on but Hardy knows it's the wrong guy; he and others are sure it's a cop or ex-cop doing the killings. There are a few suspects, including Hardy himself, but I honestly was unable to guess the right person. There's another twist late in the story that also took me by surprise.

"Striking Distance" may not be exceptional and is marred by cartoonish exaggeration, but it entertains as a cop thriller and that's what's most important when it comes to these types of flicks. Plus it was shot in Pittsburgh, a refreshing change.

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 42 minutes. ADDITIONAL WRITER: Martin Kaplan.

GRADE: C+/B-

Although this film is not a classic, you'll love this if you enjoyed Bruce in The Last Boy Scout, Hudson Hawk or the Die Hard Movies as he basically plays the same character. A down on his luck cop who kicks ass as hard as he hits the bottle.

Bruce stars as Tom Hardy, a Pittsburgh city cop who gets busted down to working on a police pursuit boat as he testified against his partner. His ex girlfriends keep getting murdered and dumped in the river - he knows that someone is doing this to frame him but who? This movie has an excellent car chase and some cool lines from Bruce plus some very good set piece action scenes. There are also some very good supporting performances from Tom Sizemore and a very crazy Robert Pastorelli.

I picked this up on DVD from ebay and was surprised by how good it looked on a large widescreen TV - I was only a kid when this was released so never saw it at the cinema. Good cinematography of the rushing river and the bridge. Definitely worth checking out.

"Who's the best cop now Jimmy??"

I liked this movie. Its not his best action movie but its still worth having. Willis must stop a killer with the help of Sarah Jessica Parker. It may be kind of predictible but its still a cool movie. Its got the usual action adventure from a Willis movie. Its worth seeing.

I'd be lying if I didn't admit this is yet another patterned Bruce Willis flick. The kind where he plays the hard boiled cop with a colorful past, but I gave it a chance. This one finds Willis as Tom Hardy. A cop from a family of cops and things aren't going too well. First off, he's just ratted out his violent partner (Robert Pastorelli) at an official police inquiry and that doesn't win him any fans in the department. All of the while there's this killer on the loose and when he lets it be known he thinks the killer is a cop - suddenly he's reassigned to River Patrol.

This movie succeeds on a basic level -- it's entertaining. Sure the story is loose and the film's surprises are somewhat stale, but it's all in good fun. Willis gets to look aptly serious and hunt for the killer on the waters and there's just enough suspense to sustain interest and the story moves at a good pace. Meanwhile the rounded supporting cast keeps things lively and keeps the viewer going, "Where have I seen him before?" or "Hey that's such and such".

I've read on here how people think this is stupid, dumb and lacks any suspense or thrills. Like any of the Die Hard movies had exceptionally smart stories or you didn't know what was gonna happen next. Of course not. For a entry level Bruce Willis flick, this one satisfies. Now if I can only get that 'Little Red Riding Hood' song out of my mind!

Actually watched this on a bus ride home. Found myself entertained for once! Bruce Willis plays good cop Tom Hardy, who's convinced the police killed his dad and framed some poor sap. He opens his big mouth too often and they demote him to river duty! Tom is still on the job and now he's partnered with sexy diver Jo (Sarah Jessica Parker). They keep finding dead women and Tom realizes the killer is toying with him!

Tom and Jo hook up, and I actually found their romance quite charming, has SJP ever been bad in anything? She's a really good actress and looks great in this, and try to actually solve the murders, which angers his uncle, played by the underrated Dennis Farina. Even the chief, a ogre of a cop played by the terrific late character actor Brion James, just wants Tom to stay quiet. His cousin Jimmy, I couldn't believe that was Robert Pastorelli, the guy from "Murphy Brown" he was totally dissolved into the part, just seems like a wise-ass, but watch him.

The film is well paced and nicely shot, I liked that the Ohio river seemed smelly like in real life. Willis actually bothers to act here, though I understand he didn't like the film, and you won't see the killer coming.

Striking Distance is a good action flick, with an excellent cast. Its rated "R" for profanity and violence.