Showtime Review
by Eugene Novikov (lordeugene_98 AT yahoo DOT com)April 24th, 2002
Showtime (2002)
Reviewed by Eugene Novikov
http://www.ultimate-movie.com/
"Can anyone think of a catchphrase?"
"Yeah. 'I wish I was dead.'"
Starring Robert De Niro, Eddie Murphy, Rene Russo, William Shatner. Directed by Tom Dey. Rated PG-13.
Given even a merely adequate script, Showtime could have coasted comfortably on the charm and skills of its lead comedic trio. It doesn't even matter that the plot is a rehash of every buddy cop movie ever made, or that the jokes aren't the paragon of originality. All the movie needed was a harmless script that simply deferred to the actors, showed off their abilities, let them do their thing. Any Hollywood hack could have written it. Evidently, the producers of Showtime thought it prudent to hire what I think was a Pentium 133.
And still the movie is watchable, sometimes even funny. It says a lot that Robert De Niro, Eddie Murphy and Rene Russo can almost -- almost -- save their movie from a screenplay as dead in the water as this one, and a director as unimaginative as Tom Dey (Shanghai Noon). Russo plays a television producer who sees a newscast in which raw, unpolished, hardly media-savvy cop Mitch Preston (Robert De Niro) breaks a reporter's camera in an effort to be left the hell alone. She immediately gets an idea: why not build a "COPS"-style reality show in which camera crews follow him around, filming every gratuitous outburst?
Every tv cop needs a sidekick, and after coercing Mitch into cooperation by threatening to sue his precinct if he doesn't play along, they approach Trey Sellers (Eddie Murphy), who is essentially a cop playing an actor playing a cop. He even goes to auditions on his lunch breaks. Of course, Mitch would never, ever, ever work with an embarrassment like Trey Sellers, and hilarity ensues.
There's more plot. Something about a mystical, incredibly powerful, top secret firearm that damn well better not get into the hands of terrorists, etc. This sort of clothesline story has to be in movies like this so that the main characters have something to become friends over, and Showtime doesn't even attempt to make it the least bit interesting. It does give De Niro and Murphy the opportunity to shout would-be witty remarks back and forth during would-be exciting car chases.
The best gags in the movie are visual. When Mitch and Trey are filming a promo for their show and the script requires them to drive up and get out of the car, Murphy bounds out and starts making faces while De Niro gives us his characteristic, no-nonsense "You talkin' at me?" look. It's really very funny, but it's also one of the only specific instances when the movie plays to its stars' respective capabilities. Aside from the general plot, for which the two are perfectly cast, De Niro and Murphy are woefully underused.
There's nothing more to be gained from the buddy cop genre alone. That particular glass has been filled to capacity. The presence of two of the most talented comedians working would make anything, including Showtime, at least a mildly pleasant sit. But the movie not only brings nothing new to the table, it fails to even make use of what it's been given. It's the very definition of autopilot.
Grade: C
Up Next: Resident Evil
Copyright 2002 Eugene Novikov
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
