Showtime

"COPS" FROM HELL

A Review of "Showtime"

Copyright 2002 Glenn Walker

"Cops" on the Fox Network is one of my favorite shows, I rarely miss it, even in syndication. It literally began the reality television rage we're currently in and still can't be beat by its competition. The show is an endless source of entertainment, any given episode will have family fights, drunks and fun in trailer parks that'll make your home life seem tame. Who can forget the singing homeless woman who thinks she's married to the cop? The attempted suicide who wants to bring his houseplants along in the ambulance? The masturbating transvestite trucker? Or, my fave, the vampire purse snatch victim with the childhood photos?



Showtime wants to be "Cops" soooo bad.

It's a buddy cop movie in the vein of a Lethal Weapon or a Stakeout with the added bonus of a television camera crew following them around. Robert DeNiro plays a wannabe Dirty Harry who is hooked up with aspiring actor/cop Eddie Murphy. Rene Russo is the television producer out to make a hit TV series out of this. It's like rehab for actors who can't pick a good script.

Speaking of the script, it's co-written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the duo behind the WB's hit series "Smallville." There's no hint of that talent here in Showtime.

DeNiro must've taken quite a financial hit when his Tribeca offices were destroyed in the World Trade Center disaster to be taking roles like this. Murphy, who has never been known for his ability to pick appropriate roles, ends up playing the same character he plays in all his films - Eddie Murphy (dude should've stuck to stand-up). And Rene Russo? Rene Russo made The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (also with DeNiro), nothing more need be said.

We do get a few good scenes with William Shatner playing himself trying to teach the cops how to look better on camera a la "T.J. Hooker" but that's about it. Not worth the rental.

Reprinted from Project: Popcorn at:
http://www.whitevioletpictures.com/popcorn