Hollywood Homicide

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

Loose Cannon vs. By-the-Book…Young Rook vs. Grizzled Vet…Eddie Murphy vs. Plugged-in, Generic White Guy. Just when you thought the buddy-cop genre had painted itself into a corner, Hollywood Homicide confirms it by taking portions of each and throwing them all into one big Lethal Weapon–flavored bouillabaisse.

When a rap group is gunned down at a local nightclub, Detectives Joe Gavilan (Harrison Ford) and K.C. Calden (Josh Hartnett) take turns tackling the case—as well as their second jobs (as a real estate broker and yoga instructor, respectively) to inject some theoretical hilarity into the mix. But all the way through Homicide’s frenzied finale, the line separating what’s supposed to be funny from what’s supposed to be action gets carelessly trounced upon like Nick Nolte on a roadside sobriety test (now that’s Hollywood!). Some decent bits pop up here and there, but they play more like a slapdash “best-of” sequence from classic cop movies than a coherent story. Harrison Ford takes out his earring to act old and ornery opposite Hartnett’s lady-killing, wanna-be actor, and the two play off one another as best they can given a prohibitive script. Take it for what it’s worth and you won’t commit—are you ready for this?—Hollywood suicide (now that’s young Hollywood!). Riggs and Murtaugh, rest assured: You’re still America’s No. 1 dysfunctional cop couple.

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