Rent-a-Cop : Assistance à femme en danger

Rent-a-Cop is lots of fun if you're just in the mood for a good popcorn flick.

It has two big stars: Liza MInnelli and Burt Reynolds.

Liza walks away with this little project quite handily. Burt looks tired, but since his aging cop character is written that way, this is not really a detriment.

Burt does have a few good deadpan comic moments, but again, Liza is the engine that drives this well-produced B-movie to completion.

There is also a truly wonderful Jerry Goldsmith score.

And a motley crew of a supporting cast: James Remar, Bernie Casey, Robby Benson, Richard Masur, John Ryan, and Dionne Warwick (!)

I truly love Rent-a-Cop, and I am not alone. Give it a shot.

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."

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. (**)

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 have been on a big Burt Reynolds kick as late. Rent A Cop is one I have not seen, but heard was bad. Unfortunately for me, the reports that I got previously are accurate. Rent A Cop has a mismatched duo of Burt Reynolds and Lizza Minnelli in a annoying kind of buddy cop movie with action, romance, basically throwing anything together and hoping it sticks. Every cliche imaginable is played to the hilt. It does have a good cast with Bernie Casey as one of Burt's cop buddies and James Remar as main villain and psychopath. There even is a cameo by Michael Rooker. All of this is wasted on a pointless crap movie.