Rent-a-Cop : Assistance à femme en danger

A low-rent, cheaply made police thriller that's kept bearable by some fair humorous bits, the nice chemistry between the two leads and, especially, by James Remar's satisfying turn as a narcissistic, psychopathic (and, naturally, indestructible) villain. Obviously a low-quality picture, both visually and dramatically, with a rather resigned Burt, but not unwatchable. (**)

Well I was entertained. I like it. Sue me! I'm not saying it's art but it's an enjoyable time-passer of a movie. I'm not sure if I would call it a romantic comedy since there's a lot of violence and dark parts but there is comedy and there is romance so...yeah. Seems like most Burt Reynolds movies I like are the ones most people hate and the ones most people like I don't care much for. Anyway Burt isn't even the best part here. The best part is Liza Minnelli, who I'm not normally a fan of but she's good here. Also James Remar's psycho villain has some memorable scenes.

Didja know that, contrary to popular belief (and the Razzies), Liza-with-a-Z actually received rave reviews from Variety and the NEW YORK TIMES (!) for her performance in this otherwise utterly ordinary cop thriller. She's actually very funny in it, and Reynolds has his moments as well. There is an absolutely hysterical scene near the beginning with Burt as a security guard disguised as Santa in a department store, bantering with his new boss, an overly officious matron yammering about his failure to scrutinize his "policy manual."

I had actually never heard about this 1987 movie from director Jerry London prior to sitting down here in 2024 to watch it for the very first time. I happened to stumble upon the movie by random chance, and seeing that it had Burt Reynolds in the lead, of course I opted to sit down and watch it.

Writers Michael Blodgett and Dennis Shryack put together an enjoyable script. The movie proved to be entertaining and enjoyable, without being an archetypical cheesy late 1980s movie. The movie is a combination of crime, action and comedy, with the latter being found in light moderation, thankfully. The comedy in the movie helped lighten the mood and spruce things up, so it was an enjoyable light-hearted action crime movie with a pinch of comedy, if you will.

The cast ensemble in "Rent-a-Cop" is pretty good, with the likes of Burt Reynolds, Liza Minnelli, James Remar, Bernie Casey, Richard Masur, Dionne Warwick and others, so you definitely have some familiar faces on the screen. The acting performances were good, and there was a good chemistry between leading actor Burt Reynolds and leading actress Liza Minnelli.

I found it well-worth taking 96 minutes to sit down and watch "Rent-a-Cop", because it was an enjoyable movie.

My rating of director Jerry London's 1987 movie "Rent-a-Cop" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Detective Frank Church resigns from his job when a drug bust goes wrong with the blame being put on him, as he survived along with prostitute Della Roberts who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Della saw the face of killer and now finds herself a target. So she seeks help from the out-of-work Church. Burt Reynolds seems to have his fair share of nothing features and the late 80s crime-thriller "Rent-a-Cop" is hard not to categorise in that bracket, but still it can be amusing and at the same time overbearing. Thanks to the appearance of Liza Minnelli as a flamboyantly overactive hooker who just won't quit talking. She overpowers many scenes. Not helping the case is that the off-balance script is asinine. I just wished it kept on the straight and narrow, than throwing in some light-hearted touches and trite comedy elements. It can be violent pulp and the main killer (a terrifically threatening James Remar) is rather a cold-hearted maniac who has a noticeable costume get-up and deadly arsenal, although he does like to dance (swaying back-and-forth in front of a mirror) and a good dancer he is too. With a nickname Dancer, he must be. Burt Reynolds is pretty much on cruise-control and the chemistry with Minnelli just doesn't seem to click. Someone has already mentioned it, but its true that I couldn't get Reynolds 1981 cop-thriller "Sharky's Machine" out of my mind when watching this. Both films have similar plot threads and are staged in the windy city Chicago, but "Rent-a-Cop" felt like a self-parody of it. Also making appearances are Richard Masur, Bernie Casey and a stern John P. Ryan. Director Jerry London (who mainly does TV) surprisingly gives the film a certain crisp slickness, creating moments of suspense (like the glorified cat and mouse shootout climax that ends with someone losing their head) and uses the wintry urban Chicago backdrop to good affect. Jerry Goldsmith contributes the music score. Routine, clingy star vehicle.

"Read my lips. Don't screw around."