There’s nothing like a fun, buddy cop film to help string together the blockbuster releases of the summer, and “Hollywood Homicide” brings the goods when director Ron Shelton combines the downplayed comedy of Harrison Ford with the fresh talent, Josh Hartnett.
Ford stars as Joe Gavilan, a veteran detective who has just been assigned a new partner, K.C. Calden (Hartnett), in the murder of a four-man rap group just beginning to hit it big. While on the case, the two also help one another with their own problems of personal growth; Gavilan is trying to break into the real estate business and Calden is struggling with aspirations to become an actor. The man that appears to be behind all the trouble is Antoine Sartaine (Isaiah Washington), the president of the recording company that just signed the infamous rap group. But his huge financial loss due to the death of the musical act as well as the deaths of the two gunmen hired for the job produces a confusing clutter of who’s who at the crime scenes.
As usual, director Ron Shelton creates a fun environment for his two leading men to run free in. Like Shelton’s other buddy films, you can expect a fascinating blend of humor, action and drama that drives an otherwise mediocre story to its inevitable end. Shelton definitely doesn’t rewrite the buddy film manual, but he really tries to mix it up for the audience. His best move was reintroducing the Harrison Ford we all know and love from the past, the Han Solo or Indiana Jones of the 1980s, using Ford’s dry, sarcastic humor and inserting it into a hip-hop generation he looks absolutely silly in. “Hollywood Homicide” is a decent buddy cop flick but don’t expect too much beyond that aside from the great movie theater experience of fun and popcorn.
3 / 5 Stars
Starring: Harrison Ford, Josh Hartnett, Isaiah Washington
Director: Ron Shelton
