Hollywood Vice Squad

Without seeing this film and reading the plot outline, I can see that this is clearly a rip-off of Paul Schrader's classic film entitled, "Hardcore" starring George C. Scott from 1979. Check out this plot outline from Hardcore: "A conservative Midwest businessman ventures into the sordid underworld of pornography in California to look for his runaway teenage daughter whom is making porno films in the porno pits of Los Angeles. " Sound familiar?

What a rip off of the Scrhrader/Scott classic. It is funny to note and to Carrie Fisher's delight that there are a few references to Star Wars...watch and see, you won't believe your eyes.

Hollywood Vice Squad mixes comedy and drama, and has three different story lines, so it changes directions quite often; too quickly in fact for the movie to be really enjoyable. The three story lines involve police efforts to break up prostitution, pornography, and bookmaking; the story involving efforts to break up a pornography ring is probably the best, with Carrie Fisher as a novice yet dedicated officer leading the investigation (Fisher seems like the only member of the cast who doesn't act like she would rather be on the set of some other film). The film switches between the three stories regularly, which makes the action hard to follow, but worse is the fact that it switches from a dramatic to comedy scene just as quickly; it makes the comedy seem less funny and the drama seem less serious. Some of the comedy scenes, while funny, appear to have been put in just to kill time and pad the film.

Hollywood Vice Squad is not totally hopeless; as mentioned, there are some really funny scenes, and the music and fashion will make you nostalgic for the mid 1980s. Overall, though, it looks more like a film that was made in a rush, and not very well. All three story lines have happy endings as well, which makes the movie pretty unrealistic compared to the realities of Hollywood. Not the worst film I ever saw, but no Citizen Kane, either.

Quite an uneven and hasty balance of humour and drama totally misses the mark, despite some recognizable faces (Ronny Cox, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Frank Gorshin, Trish Van Deverve and Carrie Fisher) in the cast. The episodic screenplay that covers the Vice-Squad through Hollywood is strung together by various (but very worn out) stories (from the ridiculous (illegal bookies) to the seamy (prostitution, drug abuse), and plain kinky (Bondage pornography)) and an overload of colourful characters. There's too much going though, which makes the film less effective with its unsure mixture. The comic approach it goes for it too hysterical, and cartoony, which this overshadows the depressingly brooding context of the more serious moments. Many sequences (largely the ones trying to make laugh) are really uncalled for, and add nothing but to draw it out. Never does it set itself apart, and would've been better to sticking to one path. The pace is fair, but still lulls about it in patches. Some of the stunt work is relentlessly done, and in that over-the-top style. Penelope Spheeris' direction is busy in nature direction, but untidy and the script is cluttered with infantile and vile dialogues. The location is well presented, but it never really features much presence as it should, or becomes a potent character. Fisher's eager, headstrong performance is the pick of the lot, but it's just too bad her role is quite brief.

Taken straight from "actual files of the Hollywood Vice Squad",Penelope Spheeris' fourth film tries to be both a comedy and serious drama at the same time,and fails miserably at both.The comedy doesn't work,and all the actors look like they're acting underwater,so the viewer ends up not caring what happens to any of the characters.This movie is like watching a train wreck in progress,without the adrenaline flow.

With this film, co-producer Sandy Howard is obviously mining some of the same material utilized for his earlier production "Vice Squad". It purports to fictionalize some of the true life exploits of the men and women who work for the title department. It's episodic, and tells a few stories.

Pauline Stanton (Trish Van Devere) comes to California to search for her runaway daughter Lori (Robin Wright, in her film debut), and is educated by the dedicated Captain Jensen (Ronny Cox) on the sleazy nature of the Hollywood underworld. Betty Melton (Carrie Fisher) is an eager young rookie detective determined to prove herself to grunting-pig colleagues, and gets wind of a porno operation that exploits underage actors. Hawkins (Leon Isaac Kennedy) and his partner Judy (super sexy Cec Verrell) attempt to take down prostitution kingpin Walsh (Frank Gorshin), eventually assisted by Chang (Evan C. Kim) and Stevens (Joey Travolta). And Tank (H.B. Haggerty) and Daley (Ben Frank) try to look out for small time bookie Jesse (Julius Harris) who's being hassled by mobster Luchessi (Robert Miano).

Ably directed by Penelope Spheeris, the movie is hurt at times by detours into silly comedy that don't really add anything. Besides, the movie isn't quite melodramatic, ugly or trashy enough to need any sort of relief. It's still reasonably sleazy, and tells its stories in entertaining fashion. Some viewers might feel that it's a tad overlong, but it managed to hold this viewers' attention for over an hour and 41 minutes. The look for the movie is just right, and the soundtrack features some cool tunes.

The very good cast is the glue that holds it together, with Fisher a standout as the ambitious, hard-driving young woman who is willing to deviate from the "book" in order to get her man. The fine ensemble of character actors also includes Marvin Kaplan, Beau Starr, Tom Everett, Eloy Casados, and Phil Rubenstein.

As was said, this actually might not be hardcore enough for some tastes, but it's a pleasingly diverting exploitation picture just the same.

Seven out of 10.