Double Feature

April 2009 - After the dazzling heights of the Oscars, there's really no place for Hollywood to go but down. So, here are my thoughts concerning a couple of LA-centric films that demonstrate just how low they can go.

First up is Hollywood Homicide, rated PG-13. In this 2003 film, Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett play a duo of Hollywood homicide detectives trying to solve the murder of an up and coming rap group.

Ford plays the veteran detective; Hartnett is his rookie partner. Ford sells real estate on the side. Hartnett makes extra money by teaching yoga, but what he really wants to do is act.

Anyway, when members of a rap group are shot dead in a club, Ford and Hartnett are sent to investigate. While they're investigating, Ford is trying to sell the club owner a house owned by a movie producer (played by Martin Landau) and Hartnett is learning lines to "A Streetcar Named Desire." They're also under investigation by an Internal Affairs cop, played by Bruce Greenwood. It turns out that Ford is sleeping with that man's ex-girlfriend, a psychic radio host (played by Lena Olin).

Are you following all this? Neither was I until Gladys Knight arrived to at least clear up the murder mystery. After that, the movie is pretty much one long chase scene.

Overall Review: Hated it. I saw the first half-hour of this movie on Starz or something, then got bored and turned it off. When it came around again, I watched the rest of it. Harrison Ford is getting older and really needs to stop running. This movie just has too many balls in the air to make much sense.

Making just slightly more sense is the R-rated Beverly Hills Cop II. Eddie Murphy is back for another turn as Detroit police detective Axel Foley in this 1987 sequel to Beverly Hills Cop. Paul Guilfoyle (currently of CSI) appears with some weird blond hairdo. I can't recall whether he actually has any lines. A very young Chris Rock also has a very small role and he does get to speak.

Foley returns to Beverly Hills when his friend Capt. Bogomil (Ronny Cox) is shot and wounded by Brigitte Nielsen. She and some buddies from the Beverly Hills Shooting Club are behind a series of crimes dubbed the "Alphabet Robberies." I'm a little confused as to how they could be called the Alphabet robberies when the movie apparently opens with the robbery at some place with a name that starts with the letter "A," but never mind.

Axel teams up with Judge Reinhold and the other guy from the first movie to kill the bad guys and blow up a lot of weapons.

Overall Review: Ehhh, it was OK. Not as smart as the original. Murphy's as wise-cracking as ever, but he seems to rely on talking really fast to pull off his scams. The plot doesn’t hold up very well. And, Brigitte Nielsen is in the movie. 'Nuff said.