Loose Cannons

Gene Hackman.

Poor old Gene Hackman.

We just lost him here recently and this is one of the few movies of his that I haven't seen.

It's because of him it's only rated as high as it is.

That and the late director Bob Clark.

Because Dan Aykroyd, who I love dearly, almost singlehandedly destroyed this entire movie.

His character is so obnoxious.

So over the top.

So ridiculous.

I highly doubt that guy could continue to be in law enforcement investigations with that behavior, that instability.

But I know this is a comedy. So, I get it. But he's just not funny.

David Alan Grier is in this.

You forget how long he's been around.

And Tobin Bell too.

Wow. The dude from Saw.

I know Bob Clark made some stinkers. Especially, sadly, towards the end of his career and his life cut tragically short.

But this movie just isn't very good.

It should've been.

With Hackman and Aykroyd and the direction of Clark.

It should've been gold.

It's not.

Some movies you want to see just because you want to see how bad they are and that is the reason why I wanted to see "Loose Cannons". This movie was strange as a comedy because the jokes just weren't funny. Also as a cop-buddy movie it doesn't work due to the chemistry between it's lead actors. Gene Hackman and Dan Aykroyd play off each other like two actors who needed the money. The premise was oddly interesting which concerned a piece of Hitler memorabilia and Aykroyd as a schizo cop trying to come to grips with his demons (aka his other personalities).

What could have been an inspiring premise for something unique and twisted in the cop-buddy genre instead gets bogged down by generic action sequences, lame jokes and slapdash direction.

I thought that these two actors would make a good film together...I was sorely mistaken. The jokes were bad, Hackman's acting (if it can indeed be called that) is forced, and Aykroyd is flat-out embarrassing. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't; I was asleep. Nothing worked in this movie.

Sigh....

Well, I had forgotten I had already seen this movie once, but I had forgotten how terrible it was.

The bad: this movie (labeled as a "comedy") simply is NOT funny whatsoever. And I mean I did not laugh once. Nor did I smile. Nor was there the tinniest smirk on my face.

Why did this movie fail so terribly. Well, it isnt a slapstick movie and it isnt an action movie either. So it is trying to mix two movie genres and ending up being neither.

Not any good then? The camera work is allright. It doesnt look like it was a movie that was rushed or was battered with financial difficulties. They really tried to make a decent comedy, but they failed. Full stop.

I consider this film a guilty pleasure. Yes, it's terrible, and my inner film critic tells me I should absolutely hate it, but hey, it's like one of those comedians such as George Carlin whose sole purposes are to offend and make you laugh. This movie did both for me. I absolutely hate stupid comedies without a brain, but actually, there seem to have been some brains behind this film. The prolific science fiction screenwriter and short story author Richard Matheson - one of my favorites - worked on the script with his author son, so there was obviously more behind this than all the other absolutely awful mainstream "comedies" of the '80s. I think I know what they were getting at - they had a bunch of really wild, unrelated ideas, and decided to put them all into one movie. What other movie can you think of with Neo-Nazis, a cop-buddy formula, Colombian drug dealer torture, Isreali agents, a long-lost porno film starring Adolf Hitler, S&M, and multiple-personality disorder all in one movie, and a comedy at that?! I give them credit for the balls they had in putting all that stuff together. Heck, they were probably making things up as they went along. A lot of it is actually quite funny. Also, believe it or not, director Bob Clark has a very good eye for detail. This is a movie all the critics were destined to love to hate, considering the pedigree of the cast, producer Aaron Spelling (The Love Boat, Charlie's Angels) and director Bob Clark ("A Christmas Story", "Porkies", and "Turk 182"). But if you approach this in the right mindset - as a trashy drive-in-type movie with a bigger budget that's both intentionally and unintentionally funny - you may enjoy it.