Having previously seen the excellent Ghost World, I came to this film expecting more of the same offbeat GenY satire, instead what I got was a dull poorly scripted pastiche which seemed to be making a bid to become the latest member of the Scary Movie franchise and failing even in that ! A paper thin and utterly predictable plot combined with a blunt force trauma script to make this a soggy mess of a film which not even the combined talents of heavy duty thesps John Malkovich & Jim Broadbent could hold together for long. The biggest problem with this film is that it can't decide which genre it wants to be in, and in shooting for more than one misses all of its targets by a clear mile. The bulk of the the film resembles a bizarre hybrid of one of those 1980's John Hughes movies (Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, Ferris Bueller etc)with all the humour & charm surgically removed, and the scary movie franchise without the absurdist gags and movie in-jokes. And then just when you think the fusion cusine can't get any more bizarre, they throw in a couple of woefully tacked on secondary plot lines, one of which has clearly been lifted wholesale from Patrica Cornwell's dubious theories about Walter Sickert and another referencing John Wayne Gacy - and all to no obvious effect! Anybody who thinks this is dark humour is very, very wrong! Compared to the efforts of contemporaries Todd Solondz or even Keven Smith these guys are not even treading water. Do yourself a favour, if you are tempted to see this film save yourself the price of a ticket and wait until it hits the £2.99 discount racks of your local corner shop - trust me it won't take long, and at least you'll have a shiny new frisby to bounce off the wall!
Reviews
2 Reviews
Anatomy of a 'Homicide: Life on the Street'
(1998 TV Movie)
Razor Sharp ! Makes NYPD Blue look like Daytime TV !
14 August 2003
Based on the Non-Fiction book by David Simon " Homicide ; A year on the Killing Streets " , Homicide ; Life on the Streets is simply the most impressive and intellegent Cop Show ever produced . With a superb Ensemble cast , each of whom is fully capable of carrying an episode , its intricate sharply written storylines and edgy docu-drama style camera-work courtesy of Barry Levinson , it really is one of the greatest TV series ever made .
Following the fortunes of a squad of Baltimore city Homicide detectives through their cases and personal lives , the Cast of Charecteurs Changes through the Seasons with Early season detectives Beau Felton and Stanley Bowlander leaving (allegedly in an attempt to spice up the cast ) , to be replaced by Megan Russert , Meldrick Lewis and Mike Kellerman . Standards throughout the show were Det Frank Pembleton , a brilliant if somewhat scary seeker of truth (brilliantly portrayed by Andre Braugher ) . Det Tim Bayliss was the new Homicide cop , a sensative soul who eventually grew into his new job and earned his colleagues respect after a very rocky star . Kay Howard , was the Supersticious (and hot !) redhead whose streak of solved cases earned her the admiration of her colleagues and superiors alike and an eventual promotion . The Shift commander was the Fearsome Al Giodello , a fair yet forceful individual who was forced to use his considerable intellegence against his own not always on the level superiors on several occasions . These included , Captain Barnfather , an ambiguous figure who although he did ultimately have a conscience did his best to hide it , and LT Gaffney a racist thug who had risen up the ranks only because of his spectacular butt-kissing abilities . The later addittions to the show included , Mike Kellerman , a hot head whose suspension on corruption charges sets up one of the series most shocking story lines involving the series long term uber drug-lord , killer and alround teflon guy Luthor Mahoney . The seemingly laid back Meldrick also got to show his teeth more in the later series . While Megan Russerts rise and fall was all the more painful to watch because you could see it all coming .......
More new Charecteurs were introduced in the last couple of series including Det Stewart Gardy , Det Terry Stivers and det Laura Ballard , as well as the Infamous Mr Mahoneys equally psychotic sister Georgia-Rae . The Series ran to 7 series all in all (some said the last was a series to many !) , and represent truely innovative and enthralling vision of a police unit and its inhabitants . There may not have been bloody shoots outs every week , but the series was all the better for it as it allowed the charecters to really come alive , and for the viewers to feel genuine empathy for them ! But like they say all good things must come to an end ......... Homicide the Movie rounded of the seventh series perfectly , with cast past and present reassembling to investigate the death of an old friend .....
Following the fortunes of a squad of Baltimore city Homicide detectives through their cases and personal lives , the Cast of Charecteurs Changes through the Seasons with Early season detectives Beau Felton and Stanley Bowlander leaving (allegedly in an attempt to spice up the cast ) , to be replaced by Megan Russert , Meldrick Lewis and Mike Kellerman . Standards throughout the show were Det Frank Pembleton , a brilliant if somewhat scary seeker of truth (brilliantly portrayed by Andre Braugher ) . Det Tim Bayliss was the new Homicide cop , a sensative soul who eventually grew into his new job and earned his colleagues respect after a very rocky star . Kay Howard , was the Supersticious (and hot !) redhead whose streak of solved cases earned her the admiration of her colleagues and superiors alike and an eventual promotion . The Shift commander was the Fearsome Al Giodello , a fair yet forceful individual who was forced to use his considerable intellegence against his own not always on the level superiors on several occasions . These included , Captain Barnfather , an ambiguous figure who although he did ultimately have a conscience did his best to hide it , and LT Gaffney a racist thug who had risen up the ranks only because of his spectacular butt-kissing abilities . The later addittions to the show included , Mike Kellerman , a hot head whose suspension on corruption charges sets up one of the series most shocking story lines involving the series long term uber drug-lord , killer and alround teflon guy Luthor Mahoney . The seemingly laid back Meldrick also got to show his teeth more in the later series . While Megan Russerts rise and fall was all the more painful to watch because you could see it all coming .......
More new Charecteurs were introduced in the last couple of series including Det Stewart Gardy , Det Terry Stivers and det Laura Ballard , as well as the Infamous Mr Mahoneys equally psychotic sister Georgia-Rae . The Series ran to 7 series all in all (some said the last was a series to many !) , and represent truely innovative and enthralling vision of a police unit and its inhabitants . There may not have been bloody shoots outs every week , but the series was all the better for it as it allowed the charecters to really come alive , and for the viewers to feel genuine empathy for them ! But like they say all good things must come to an end ......... Homicide the Movie rounded of the seventh series perfectly , with cast past and present reassembling to investigate the death of an old friend .....
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