Review: Want to hear at least one nice thing I can say about Hollywood Homicide?

It’s not Harrison Ford’s fault it isn’t an overly good film.

That’s saying a lot.

After K-19 the Widowmaker, Random Hearts, and Six Days Seven Nights…Harrison hasn’t been on his game lately. I will exclude What Lies Beneath as an interesting albeit run-of-the-mill thriller…I have been losing hope in Ford on screen and off as he dates Calista Flockhart. Not really fair, is it? I mean, I have never met the woman or her son, she could be charming…but the whole Ford leaves his wife, divorces and plans to marry Calista thing, whether I know her or not, kinda makes me ill…

So it is just nice to see Ford not sucking on the big screen.

The real fault of this film lies within two elements, and they are both pretty major.

1. Ron Shelton. Sometimes a great comedic director/writer with such films as Bull Durham and Tin Cup to his credit. I mean, he makes Kevin Costner shine like a real human being and that can only be talent on Shelton’s part. However he also made Play it To The Bone so he has his stumbling moments as well.

2. Josh Hartnett. I’m sure I’ll get a few emails on this one from the girls in his demographic of 12-16, but the guy has no personality and about .02% of comedy timing.

The rumor is Ford ran Hartnett pretty good on set, taking him to task, making him do his own stunts etc and Hartnett has lashed out pretty solidly in the press about the ‘tense’ working conditions. My advice…suck it up and follow Ford’s lead you whiney little actor…despite some mis-steps of late, Ford’s tough but fair stance has done him well in Hollywood and overall in his career. When you have been Indiana Jones and Han Solo for a generation you have a bit more leeway than a guy who has yet to carry a box-office hit on his own.

Ok, enough Hollywood bashing, and onto Hollywood Homicide Bashing. For a movie about Hollywood, there simply were not enough in-jokes about the profession as well. Aside from a cameo of Eric Idle doing some Hugh Grant schtick for about five seconds, and Hartnett wanting to be an actor, this 'Hollywood tale', could have taken place in Detroit (so as to keep the rap murder angle.

In fact, having already ranted about Hartnett, I will still harp on the subject. This didn't need to be a buddy film. This could have been a Harrison Ford flick, a lone cop out of his league in the rap music industry in Hollywood working the case. When Ford is away from the buddy aspects of the film it almost...ALMOST, starts to gel. His moonlighting as a real estate agent when off-duty and how the two jobs cross over into one another could have been expanded further and played for even more laughs.

And losing Hartnett would not have affected either of the two biggest laughs in the film, both of which, oddly, occur during the two chase sequences. A rapper trying to escape in a peddle boat, well, that just reads funny and then Ford stealing a little girls pink bike with basket for a pursuit...well, I have to say, that was one inspired moment which makes Hollywood Homicide worth a rental alone. Sadly, nothing else in the film was as hysterical as that.

An okay idea, miscast with Hartnett, a step back towards the good flicks for Ford and Lou Diamond Philips as a transvestite hooker leaves me wavering around the 2 stars out of 5 star grade.

Copyright© DVDwolf.com
Copyright© Written By: Rob Paul
Feel the need to spout off? Voice your opinion on the DVDwolf Forum!