SHOWTIME
Starring:
Eddie Murphy, Robert De Niro and Rene Russo
Director: Tom Dey
Running Time: 95 mins
Certificate: 12
Mitch Preston (De Niro) is a hard-nosed detective that lives for the job. Trey Sellars (Murphy) is a patrolman who would like nothing better than to give up his job to become an actor. When the two are inadvertently bought together during a failed drug bust that takes place in front of the media, the mismatched pair are seen by producer Chase Renzi (Russo). Seeing it as a way to bring some positive publicity to the police department, Preston and Sellars become the stars of TV reality show Showtime with the hope that the public will get to see how real detectives work but neither of them expected it to be as successful as it is about to become.
Trying to parody the cop buddy genre and taking digs at Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour and every police TV show ever made, Showtime doesn't really succeed in been anything more than amusing. Where Scream successfully accomplished this in the Horror genre, Showtime is a little too restrained and controlled to make it stand out.
There is undoubted chemistry between De Niro and Murphy, but you'd expect that from two great actors. Where Murphy can do this role in his sleep, De Niro is becoming more and more commercial in role choices but after Analyse This and Meet the Parents, he again shows that he has a real gift for comedy.
When it is funny, it is very funny. William Shatner as the shows technical advisor is inspired, though far too short. The way he teaches the pair the right way to enter a door, T J Hooker style, is amazingly funny. The problem is that these laugh out loud moments are too few and far between, with the rest of the movie only managing to raise a smile because you've seen it all before.
Even though it is very formulaic, the movie is still good fun and with some good action sequences and some genuinely funny moments, there are worse ways of spending ninety-five minutes.
NOT AVAILABLE
The Usher Home | Hush, Hush... | The Big Story | The Usher Speaks
Stuck @ Home | Coming Soon | Links | Contact the Usher
The Usher 2002
