Hollywood Homicide

Hollywood Homicide seems like it’s been churned out from some sort of formulaic production line tucked away in the Hollywood hills. The big question is – is it a sly satire of buddy-buddy cop films or is it just a genuinely dumb copy?

Joe Gavilan (Harrison Ford) is a weary cop who’s seen it all and done it all. K.C Calden (Josh Hartnett) is a young detective who’s had the misfortune of being partnered with Gavilan. Neither cop cares too much about his career in law enforcement as they both have extracurricular activities. Gavilan moonlights as a Real Estate Broker and Calden is a wannabe actor.

Unfortunately neither can devote their full time attention to their extracurricular actives as they have been assigned to investigate the murder of an up-and-coming rap group. The rap group was signed to Mr Sartain (Isaiah Washington) a successful record label president who doesn’t seem too upset by the groups’ demise.

Soon the two cops have their work cut out for them as Gavilan is trying to secure a difficult sale and avoid Internal Affairs Investigator Bennie Macko (Bruce Greenwood) whose wife (Lena Olin) Gavilan is sleeping with. Meanwhile Calden is trying to nail a particularly difficult audition.

Can the two cops keep their minds on the investigation long enough to solve it and before they end up killing each other? Of course they can, who are we kidding!

Hollywood Homicide starts of weak but gains strength during the second half. It’s a very light-hearted affair and more than a little reminiscent of the Eddie Murphy/Robert De Nero vehicle Showtime. Both films even ‘feel’ the same which is bizarre. There are absolutely no surprises with Hollywood Homicide as the plot is very predictable from the beginning, but it’s the chemistry between the two leads and their back-stories that provide the most entertainment.

Harrison Ford is very good and doesn’t seem to mind playing the sort of role that show his age. He has easily grown into roles that many older actors would avoid. Mind he does get to cut loose and have some fun moments such as humping a one-way mirror in an interrogation room. He seems to get better with age; more laconic and gruffly likeable. Josh Hartnett shows that he’s more than just a pretty face and that he can use his three facial expressions to good effect.

The supporting cast are okay and include the veteran actor Martin Landau as a movie producer, Master P as the nightclub owner where the rap group was murdered and Lou Diamond Philips as an undercover prostitute in drag (don’t ask!)

Director Ron Shelton is no stranger to cop movies or buddy-buddy films manages to deliver an uneven film but one that has enough entertaining moments to keep it from being a total loss.

The question remains – is this an average action buddy-buddy movie or is it the second best movie about real estate sellers ever?

Score 6/10