Divisão de Homicídios

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.

Taking another chance on L.A, on the streets and more specifically on the police, as in "Dark Blue", Ron Shelton, a man of multiple themes, brings a new project to the table, which is called "Hollywood Homicide". The difference between this one and the latter one is that this is Hollywood, precisely. And when the beginning credits roll, and we're shown fifty "Hollywood" signs; it's obvious that they want us to realize that. Why would it be?

The story about Ron Shelton meeting Robert Souza in the set of "Dark Blue" and them both getting together to write the script of "Hollywood Homicide", because Souza had been a cop before…Interesting. However, in the same vein, "Dark Blue" is the portrait of a cruel reality; "Hollywood Homicide" is the satire of a shallow but real reality in the end. It's Hollywood, and it was a good premise to put some fun in the crime scenes, probably to make it "more dramatic than anything seen in Hollywood".

The other elements the plot offers go from action to crime, or vice versa. They created the murderer of a rap band, so they could mess a little bit with the music business, too. There we see the producers, the groups, the "showbiz"…It's even related with theater and movies, because one of the main characters wants to be an actor; and in a decent comedic way, he's thinking about acting each time he's doing something; and he probably isn't that good.

I'm talking about K.C Calden; Josh Hartnett's character. He gives classes of movements to find the inner self. There, a lot of hot women assist and kiss him when they leave. In one scene, his partner tells him that he did for sex. "At first it was for sex, now it has become something spiritual", K.C answers, and at night, a hot woman is waiting for him in the "Jacuzzi". "How long has it been since the last time you got laid", K.C asks his partner. "It's not your business", the partner says. Then, he lets a man working as a prostitute into his car. When they discuss that, he says: "It was nothing, it was a man, a cop; a cop man".

This partner is Joe Gavilan, a pro in the police business played by a pro in the acting business. As he did with Kurt Russell in "Dark Blue", Shelton brings Harrison Ford back to the top of his game. With his character, based on writer Robert Souzas's own life, he has the best lines and he has a lot of fun. Antoine Sartain (Isaiah Washington) should be afraid of him; a man that has had sex, with Ruby (an over the top Lena Olin) and makes real estate business with producer Jerry Duran (the great Martin Landau) and Julius Armas (a correct Master P) while he's driving a car high speed. When he is told the composer of the rap group is still alive, he replies: "Somebody actually writes that s***?". He has had bad times, Bennie Macko (Bruce Greenwood) wants to get him, and in the best scene of the movie, he and K.C get interrogated. This scene is managed with camera changes between the two interrogating rooms, where in Joe's, his cell is always ringing; and in K.C's, he is "centering" himself spiritually. Joe's interrogator can't do anything, while K.C's interrogator (a woman) asks him to help her relax.

That scene stole the only laughs from me during the entire film. Keith David was also having fun in his Leo role, reprising some of the comic elements he gave to Lester Wallace in "Barbershop". More importantly, and if you were wondering, Shelton directs his actors perfectly, making a stupendous balance between the pro and the amateur, the old and the young; Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett. Their chemistry is perfect, and one of the few reasons to watch the movie. In the end, their characters are nothing else but cops, in a film that leaves a lot of plot situations unresolved, is a bit long, not funny enough, but different from the gross humor that everyone finds easy to put on paper.

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.

From the get-go I could tell Hollywood Homicide was something people were going to miss completely. The fact that the movie isn't really a buddy-cop movie in the sense that a Lethal Weapon is, never really occuring to them. This movie isn't about the crime that takes place. And it's not about the action. It's about the two characters played by Harnett and Ford. The interplay between them, the way they feel each other out, and along with audience grow to know one another.

All the cops in the movie are portrayed as people who want something better for themselves, which recalls to us the 'dreams of the rap-star might-have-been's' who are gunned down in the opening scene.

The roundabout way that things unfold in Hollywood Homicide is quite frankly a breath of fresh air, because the tensions in the movie aren't hinged on the solving of any crimes, but on Harrison selling that property and Josh playing 'Stanley' to perfection. The last bit involving an impropable car chase, an even more impropable foot chase, and two quirky final showdowns show that the guys still 'get down to work' when that time comes.

I recommend the film for anyone who doesn't really hold movies to expectations of genre or style. To people who like to be shown something odd, new and fascinating now and again. It was a good time.