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A Sony release. Written by Ron Shelton and Robert Souza; directed by Ron Shelton; starring Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett. Released to DVD on October 7, 2003. 
For all the bad word-of-mouth, poor publicity and reshoots that Hollywood Homicide has had to suffer, the end result is surprisingly not awful. Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett star as Joe Gavilan and KC Calden, detective partners who are nearly polar opposites of each other. Gavilan has three ex-wives, likes hamburgers (and meat), sells real estate on the side and has a distaste for authority. Calden teaches yoga, eats tomato and cucumber sandwiches and yearns to be an actor. Together the two investigate the murder of two rappers in the group H2O Klick. However, the beauty of co-writer/director Ron Shelton’s work is that the majority of the movie focuses on the offbeat relationship between Gavilan and Calden, not the murder and its investigation. And when the film keeps this in mind, it is entertaining and fun. When the camera begins to drift away from Gavilan and Calden’s interplay to spotlight action sequences and car chases, Hollywood Homicide quickly begins to fall apart. Never really considered a comedic actor, Ford caught me off guard by his knack for subtle humor here. His actions often stood out as being funny precisely because they were the opposite of what was expected. When Calden drives their car up onto the sidewalk in an effort to create a shortcut, Gavilan’s reaction isn’t one of excitement or pleasure, but one of sheer terror. He covers his eyes with a hand, demanding that Calden let him know when this part of the chase had ended. Unfortunately though, like most other action-comedies, the locus of Hollywood Homicide is all over the map. With a tagline preaching hardcore action–"When time is running out, one shot is all you get"–and a nearly 30 minute action sequence at the end of the film, the humor that is derived from Gavilan and Calden’s relationship isn’t always at the forefront of the film. This was far from perfect, but was an enjoyable encounter nonetheless.
ray peter yes, it's true: Co-writer Robert Souza was also an LA police officer who moonlighted as a real estate agent. |
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