HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE
By
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

Sluggish direction, bad writing, and Lolita Davidovich.

Detective Joe Gavilan’s (Harrison Ford) salary can’t support his lifestyle, 3 divorces, 2 children, and the mortgage on a white elephant property he owns. He moonlights as a real estate agent and is always looking for that big commission to straighten out his finances. His partner is young K.C. Calden (bewigged Josh Hartnett), the wrong kind of man to be a homicide detective. He teaches yoga and really wants to be an actor. It would normally take, even on the fast track, 10 years on the job to become a homicide detective. And by that time, Calden would have gotten used to crime scenes, firing a gun, and autopsies.

There has been a bloody shootout at a nightclub and, since the owner is interested in upgrading to a six million dollar crib, Gavilan and Calden focus instead on Sartain (Isaiah Washington), a music industry poohbah. He had the most to gain by the death of four rap artists.

With the murder investigation in full swing, Gavilan is being ridiculously targeted by Internal Affairs because he spends money he doesn’t have. Gavilan’s nemesis is his girlfriend’s (Lena Olin) former lover, the underused, neglected Bruce Greenwood. Lena, age appropriate and sexy, is a radio psychic whose purpose in HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE is to give Ford’s character sex appeal and, more importantly, use her psychic abilities to conveniently lead Gavilan and Calden rapidly along when they need to find Sartain. Talk about clever detective work!

No, make that a sloppy, lazy screenplay by Robert Souza and Ron Shelton. Once again, Shelton puts his wife, Lolita Davidovich, in a cameo as a hard-as-nails Hollywood Power Madam. Doesn’t anyone else ever hire Lolita?

No matter how much rap music is added to HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE and how much of a good sport Ford is, this movie is lifeless and directed with a lead pipe. Ford tries to play along hoping the promise that this is another 48 HOURS will materialize in the editing. He has absolutely no chemistry with Hartnett. He doesn’t even try. It confirms a truism that even superstars get hookwinked and can’t tell what the finished product will look like. Just turn up on time, hit the mark, and pray the director doesn’t have a huge gambling debt he’s paying off. As far as Ford and Hartnett doing their own stunts? Even an untrained, casual eye can see Ford’s stunt double. The whole production is sloppy. Ford needs to fire his agent and Shelton should work less. Even though the trailer for BAD BOYS 2 looks fabulous and full of energy, I’m worried. Ron Shelton is one of the writers.

Victoria Alexander can be contacted by visiting www.FilmsInReview.com or, directly, at masauu@aol.com.

Cast:
Joe Gavilan: Harrison Ford
K.C. Calden: Josh Hartnett
Ruby: Lena Olin
Bernie Macko: Bruce Greenwood
Sartain: Isaiah Washington
Cleo: Lolita Davidovich
Leon: Keith David
Julius Armas: Percy "Master P" Miller
Wasley: Dwight Yoakam
Jerry Duran: Martin Landau
Olivia Robidoux: Gladys Knight
Wanda: Lou Diamond Phillips
K-RO: Kurupt, aka Ricardo Brown

Credits:
Director: Ron Shelton
Screenwriters: Robert Souza, Ron Shelton
Executive producers: Joe Roth, David Lester
Producers: Lou Pitt, Ron Shelton
Director of photography: Barry Peterson
Production designer: Jim Bissell
Editor: Paul Seydor
Costume designer: Bernie Pollack
Music: Alex Wurman
Music supervisors: Dawn Soler, Kathy Nelson

Columbia Pictures Revolution Studios presents a Pitt/Shelton production
Running time -- 111 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13