The Mod Squad Review
by James Sanford (jamessanford AT earthlink DOT net)April 3rd, 1999
It's clear Hollywood is scraping the bottom of the old TV barrel when filmmakers start adapting things like "The Mod Squad," which left the airwaves more than 25 years ago and has rarely been seen since. The movie, which is louder, racier and more profane than the show ever could have been, retains the concept of the serieswithout managing to have much fun with it. This is a movie awash in dazzling trimmings but devoid of ideas.
For awhile, "The Mod Squad" looks like it may get by on flash alone. Director Scott Silver, cinematographer Ellen Kuras and editor Dorian Harris use every possible film school trick (high-speed zooms, time-lapse photography, arty out-of-focus shots, jump cuts, etc.) to jump-start the film, and the images are backed up by a scorching soundtrack mixing vintage R&B and new tunes by Lauryn Hill, Bjork and Everlast. The score by BC Smith is ripe with the cheesy organs and blaring horns of classic 1970s TV music.
But like last year's "The Avengers," "Mod Squad" eventually dissolves into stylish chaos. It's as if the production team dressed up the stage, lined up all the right people and then lost interest in the project once the cameras started to roll.
The script, which vacillates between confusion and tedium, sets up young troublemakers Julie (Claire Danes), Lincoln (Omar Epps) and Pete (Giovanni Ribisi) as novice cops under the wing of Captain Greer (Dennis Farina), who realizes the three can effectively infiltrate places and organizations the boys in blue never could. When Greer turns up dead, the trio realizes the force was against him, and they scramble to uncover the corruption within the police department.
Perhaps because of the scattershot screenplay, the cast members frequently seem to be at a loss as to how to play their roles. Danes' performance as a recovering alcoholic and drug addict is not one of her strongest, although she does come up with a convincingly grungy look for Julie. Aside from occasionally glowering and looking concerned, Epps has absolutely nothing to do.
Only the doughy, slack-jawed Ribisi ("The Other Sister," "Saving Private Ryan") appears to have a solid grasp on his characterization of Pete as a would-be fly guy who generally ends up looking like a dweeb.
For a movie that seems to know exactly how silly it is - at one point, Pete and Julie make "Scream"-style cracks about how the big finale had better not take place in an abandoned warehouse - "The Mod Squad" keeps a straight, sometimes even sullen face too much of the time. Hopefully the promised/threatened film version of "Charlie's Angels" won't make the same mistake.
James Sanford
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