Downtown (1990)

Police Officer Alex Kearney works in a rich, plush suburb of Philadelphia. When he stops an important businessman and his story of the incident is not believed, he is sent to work Downtown,... See full summary »

Director:

Richard Benjamin

Writer:

Nat Mauldin

Stars:

Anthony Edwards, Forest Whitaker, Penelope Ann Miller

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Edwards	...	Alex Kearney
Forest Whitaker	...	Dennis Curren
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Lori Mitchell
Joe Pantoliano	...	White
David Clennon	...	Jerome Sweet
Art Evans	...	Henry Coleman
Rick Aiello	...	Mickey Witlin
Roger Aaron Brown	...	Lt. Sam Parral
Ron Canada	...	Lowell Harris
Wanda De Jesus	...	Luisa Diaz
Francis X. McCarthy	...	Inspector Ben Glass (as Frank McCarthy)
Kimberly Scott	...	Christine Curren
Ryan McWhorter	...	Ephraim Cain
Danuel Pipoly	...	Skip Markowitz
Maurice Hill	...	Man with Dog

Storyline

Police Officer Alex Kearney works in a rich, plush suburb of Philadelphia. When he stops an important businessman and his story of the incident is not believed, he is sent to work Downtown, the most dangerous, crime-filled precinct in the city. Everyone there is sure that this 'by the book', pampered, suburban cop is going to get himself, and whoever is assigned as his partner, killed. Detective Dennis Curren, draws the unfortunate 'babysitting' assignment. But when Alex's best friend is killed investigating a stolen car, Alex throws the book out the window tracking down the killer.

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Plot Keywords:

detective | police | street gang | ghetto | male nudity | 

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Taglines:

In a precinct that goes by the body count - he goes by the book.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Forest Whitaker and Anthony Edwards had minor roles in " Fast Times at Ridgemont High".

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Goofs

When White pulls abreast of Alex and Dennis to shoot, he rolls down the window and you hear the sound of a pump shotgun being cycled. White is holding an over/under shotgun which does not make any such sound.

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Quotes

Henry Coleman: A fuck-up. Another goddamn, four-star, class-A fuck-up! Every backward candy-ass shit-for-brains fuck-up in the city, I get 'em. Not Wynnefield, not South Philly, not Germantown, me!

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Connections

Referenced in Crazy People (1990)

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Soundtracks

SURFER GIRL
Written by Brian Wilson
Performed by The Beach Boys
Courtesy of Capitol Records, Inc.
By Arrangement with CEMA Special Markets

User Reviews

Better than expected, funny, some good car chases

Downtown wouldn't have been a personal choice but i was lent it with some other movies so I watched it. I understood that Forest Whitaker was in downtown (actor of recent film The Last King Of Scotland) The film turned out to be quite reasonable, co-star Anthony Edwards was actually quite funny at times making the film that little bit better, and not forgetting the soundtracks that make a good film.

The film included shooting scenes, car chase scenes, and a bit of comedy splashed in for good measure.Forest Whitaker played a fairly good part and is a decent actor, the problem with films these day is that 90% of them are swarming with new/fresh from drama school teens, we need to hang on to our good actors.

overall, a good cop flick worth the 90 min. - 7/10

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 January 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Deux flics à Downtown

Filming Locations:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$821,626, 14 January 1990

Gross USA:

$2,346,150

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,346,150

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pacific Western, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1