Harrison Ford is probably one of my top three favorite actors...in my opinion he can't do much wrong and the box office says the same and even at his age I think he still has some action left in him. Unfortunately he felt the need to "modernize" himself by latching onto this project which turns into a disaster because of one sole reason...WRITING!! Despite the fact that co-writer and director Ron Shelton has done many "buddy" type flicks he has written himself into a disaster by throwing so many story lines into one short film that it just loses all hope of a plot. You have what is supposed to be the "main" story. An up and coming rap group gunned down brutally in a club by their producer who wants to stop them from leaving his label and send a message to others thinking of doing the same. But this simple and decent story is loss in at least three others. You have an internal investigation being launched against the lead characters, the murder of K.C. Calden's father, also a cop, the corrupt IA agents, the financial issues and alternative career of Joe Gavilian which is so many worlds of useless. His financial problems and his struggling secondary career don't make him any less or more of a character and it's definitely the story that gets in the way the most. Granted they do tie up the loose ends on all those stories but they aren't necessary. It was like three years of a TV Series packed into 2 hours worth of a movie.
Very fortunately for Mr. Shelton that he saved his film from utter tripe with the addition of a top notch actor in Harrison Ford. Ford still pulls off action like it's nothing and looks great doing it. His "partner" in the film played by Josh Hartnett does a decent enough job although I don't think he quite has the chops to share screen time with someone the caliber of Ford. Nonetheless he is supposed to be second string to Ford and for that does well. The supporting cast is okay without any really stand out performances besides a rather odd very brief cameo by Monty Python veteran Eric Idle. Ford is really the shining point, as he usually is. His character is gritty, with lots of emotion and has some of the funniest scenes of any character Ford has ever done. He's actually quite natural at comedy as well which you'd never know until he does it making it all the more funny. The chemistry, which is so vitally important in this type of film, between Hartnett and Ford is quite good. They already have them as established partners so there's none of the typical veteran cop doesn't want young slick partner type idea. They both have their strengths and weaknesses and they help each other along where the other needs it. Had they eliminated all the numerous side stories in this film they would have had something awesome here!! The film really gets it's charm and legs in the final half hour during the big chase scene between Calden, Gavilan, Leroy Wasley played by Dwight Yoakam, and Antoine Sartain played by Isaiah Washington. The four of them have an enormous car and foot chase across Hollywood and that's really where the charm of the film comes in. With small little pop culture jokes and stereotypes of Hollywood abound. Also they added in a cameo by Gladys Knight which I thought was a great little mix of the old and new R & B culture. Basically the film had a lot of promise with some great parts but it was so heavily dragged down by the over-writing done. You might enjoy it or hate it but it's probably worth seeing if you're a Ford or Hartnett fan. 6.5/10
Very fortunately for Mr. Shelton that he saved his film from utter tripe with the addition of a top notch actor in Harrison Ford. Ford still pulls off action like it's nothing and looks great doing it. His "partner" in the film played by Josh Hartnett does a decent enough job although I don't think he quite has the chops to share screen time with someone the caliber of Ford. Nonetheless he is supposed to be second string to Ford and for that does well. The supporting cast is okay without any really stand out performances besides a rather odd very brief cameo by Monty Python veteran Eric Idle. Ford is really the shining point, as he usually is. His character is gritty, with lots of emotion and has some of the funniest scenes of any character Ford has ever done. He's actually quite natural at comedy as well which you'd never know until he does it making it all the more funny. The chemistry, which is so vitally important in this type of film, between Hartnett and Ford is quite good. They already have them as established partners so there's none of the typical veteran cop doesn't want young slick partner type idea. They both have their strengths and weaknesses and they help each other along where the other needs it. Had they eliminated all the numerous side stories in this film they would have had something awesome here!! The film really gets it's charm and legs in the final half hour during the big chase scene between Calden, Gavilan, Leroy Wasley played by Dwight Yoakam, and Antoine Sartain played by Isaiah Washington. The four of them have an enormous car and foot chase across Hollywood and that's really where the charm of the film comes in. With small little pop culture jokes and stereotypes of Hollywood abound. Also they added in a cameo by Gladys Knight which I thought was a great little mix of the old and new R & B culture. Basically the film had a lot of promise with some great parts but it was so heavily dragged down by the over-writing done. You might enjoy it or hate it but it's probably worth seeing if you're a Ford or Hartnett fan. 6.5/10