You know you're in trouble when even the marketing concept is flawed. No big secret, but lately Hollywood has been gaga over big-screen incarnations of little old TV shows. In this case, the 1968-1973 series of the same name is given the cinematic treatment. The problem, however, is that the movie is geared and marketed toward teenagers and young adults that are demographically too young to remember the TV show, let alone be nostalgic about it. And the R-rating presumably limits many of them from viewing it anyway. (With a fair amount of gratuitous sex and nudity, the rating is fully warranted) Regardless, the movie has been made with the intent of appealing to this particular group and seems unlikely to attract those outside of it, with good reason.
The story is a familiar one. Three young former criminals are given an opportunity to forgo jail sentences by becoming undercover cops along the lines of the handsome police persons in 21 Jump Street. When one of their undercover assignments leads them into the dark world of drug smuggling, prostitution rings and police corruption, our three heroes' jobs and lives become at risk. With the stakes raised and the tension growing, they must uncover the plot against them while running from the law they once broke but now seek to protect.
Much like the French film La Femme Nikita and its American remake Point of No Return, we are offered supposed ruffians given a second chance and then betrayed by the system that supported them. This is a formula that has worked before with greater success, but here feels only tired and formulaic. The movie truly exudes "we've seen this and it's all be done before." The result is not unlike a bad remake of a Lethal Weapon movie without the humor, charming camaraderie, or intense action sequences. In fact, the film's writers and/or makers were so aware of the Lethal Weapon comparisons that they attempted to find humor in parodying some of the dialogue. Regrettably, this attempt not only falls flat, but backfires, because the stolen dialogue and references only further reinforces that this movie is not as good as the Lethal Weapon movies it attempts to poke fun of. Instead we are given unhealthy doses of generation x nihilism and senseless posturing with little real entertainment value.
The implausibly executed, conventional plot is not the only problem. Cinematically, the movie begins with some interesting MTV-kinetic, headache producing camera effects designed to keep things visually stimulating, yet it quickly falls into routine cinematic modes. Even the soundtrack of mostly retro and funky vibes has few inspired moments.
The film's stars--Epps, Danes, and Ribsi--are interesting to watch and sometimes compelling even in these dubious roles, but their talent is completely wasted here. This just goes to prove that even the best actors have difficulty acting through a flimsy script with inane dialogue.
The term 'mod' refers to fashion, and one might infer that this movie would substitute style over substance. It offers neither.
Steven S. Baldwin (4/29/99)
