Hollywood Homicide (2003)

Director:

Ron Shelton

Writers (WGA):

Robert Souza (written by) &
Ron Shelton (written by)

Release Date:

13 June 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

In Hollywood, no one is who they really want to be.

Plot:

Two LAPD detectives who moonlight in other fields investigate the murder of an up-and-coming rap group.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Audition | Commandeered Vehicle | Elevator | Autopsy

Cast

Harrison Ford	...	Sgt. Joe Gavilan
Josh Hartnett	...	Det. K.C. Calden
Lena Olin	...	Ruby
Bruce Greenwood	...	Lt. Bennie Macko
Isaiah Washington	...	Antoine Sartain
Lolita Davidovich	...	Cleo Ricard
Keith David	...	Leon
Master P	...	Julius Armas
Gladys Knight	...	Olivia Robidoux
Lou Diamond Phillips	...	Wanda
Meredith Scott Lynn	...	I.A. Detective Jackson
Tom Todoroff	...	I.A. Detective Zino
James MacDonald	...	Danny Broome
Kurupt	...	K-Ro
André Benjamin	...	Silk Brown (as Andre Benjamin)

Also Known As:

Two Cops (USA) (working title)
Untitled Harrison Ford Starrer (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual situations and language.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Malaysia:U | Netherlands:12 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Canada:G (Quebec) | France:U | Spain:18 (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39540)

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Revolution Studios

Trivia:

Ron Shelton mentions two scenes that were cut from the movie: an early scene where Ruby breaks up with former boyfriend Bennie Macko, because Shelton thought this was giving too much information too soon and would've ruined the shocked look on Gavilan's face when he learns that Macko used to date Ruby; and a more explicit love scene between Gavilan and Ruby (a side profile of her breast appears to have been edited out) to achieve a PG-13 rating.

Goofs:

Continuity: The gun used by Antoine is a .40 Springfield XD40 SS. This gun can only hold a maximum of 11 rounds yet he can be seen shooting many more than that before reloading.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Shooting Practice Announcer: Shooters step up to the 20 yard line.
[K.C. has trouble shooting his target during shooting practice, so Joe shoots his and K.C.'s at the same time]
K.C.: Thanks Joe.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Psych: Bollywood Homicide (#4.6)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Yeah

A Commendable Effort for a Difficult Task

It's not easy to make a semi-serious, comedy-cop thriller. Director, writer Ron Shelton (writer for Tin Cup and Bull Durham) took upon himself a very complex and difficult assignment trying to combine comedy with a rather serious, violent cop murder mystery. There were spots in the first half of the movie that seemed to lose action and momentum while the uneasy mix of crime drama and comedy required some brilliant skill and scriptwriting. The end result, "Hollywood Homicide" came out much better than the conflicting, confusing trailers of the movie (one a serious cop version and second trailer a comedy in the vain of Beverly Hills Cop).

The humor was above average, tinged with dry and cerebral humor not usually found in comedies these days. The interplay, the pushing the envelope in character development and character backgrounds were all good efforts at better, quality movie making. This movie was an entertaining and great first attempt by Ron Shelton who took risks with his material and found an fine balance between humor and story plotline that truly promises even better things to come.

Harrison Ford did great with his expressions, his sense of humor, and his letting go and enjoying, playing his part while Josh Harnett went a long for an enjoyable romp with a different kind of cop movie. While this movie wasn't perfect nor Oscar performing, it rates kudos for its experimental success in bringing more to the screen and braving new quality attempts at good movie-making. Seven out of Ten Stars.