A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Showtime

Theatrical release: 2002

Details:

Robert De Niro

Eddie Murphy

Rene Russo

William Shatner

Director: Tom Dey

Score: 1/2

The Review: Comedy: the bastard union of The Odd Couple crossed with America's Most Wanted, flavored with Beverly Hills Cop.

De Niro plays an LAPD detective drafted into co-starring in a semi-reality cop show, as the consequence of an incident of "unfriendly fire" (he shot out an annoying video camera that was harassing his job, and the TV station aired the tape). His cooperation is the quid pro quo in the department's effort to repair the PR damage. To add insult to injury, he is paired with Murphy, who plays an obnoxious and grandstanding patrol cop more interested in acting than in policing. However, as with any buddy movie, their relationship slowly evolves. As the technical consultant to the self-titled TV show "Showtime," William Shatner appears primarily as a self-parody ("this is the worst acting I've ever seen": indeed).

Woven through the antics is the attempt to follow a real case -- it happens to involve illegal weapons, and it gives an excuse for some interesting SFX, but it's pretty thin. There are visible tinges of Beverly Hills Cop throughout: enough to make it interesting, but not enough to make it really good.

(15-Sep-02)

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