 Movie
Reviews
with Evelyn Gough
Showtime
Directed by Tom Dey
 Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy ham it up for the cameras in Showtime.
Nobody could ever accuse Robert De Niro of being a mediocre actor. But not even an actor of his calibre can salvage a mediocre film. Want proof? Go see Showtime. Not that it’s a terrible movie, mind you. It’s just we’ve seen it all before and done so much better.
This most recent example of the buddy cop movie is given a contemporary edge thanks to a storyline involving the public’s latest obsession: reality TV.
De Niro stars as Mitch Preston, a veteran LAPD detective who catches the eye of television producer Chase Renzi (Rene Russo) when he shoots a TV camera. He’s angry because the undercover drug bust operation he’s been working on has just been blown by a rookie cop (Eddie Murphy). What’s worse, the whole thing has been caught on camera. Chase (Russo) is thrilled. Mitch is just the man she has been looking for to star in a reality cop programme she is producing. Mitch is horrified but is given no choice in the matter and just when he thinks things couldn’t get any worse he discovers his new partner is none other than rookie Trey Sellars (Eddie Murphy). (Who, by the way, just happens to be an aspiring actor. How unusual for LA).
There’s a fairly uninspired plot involving a villain with a dodgy foreign accent, bad hair and lots of big guns and William Shatner puts in an appearance playing himself (tongue firmly in cheek). But what Showtime really needs is some original ideas and more laughs.
All in all this is a disappointing effort from Tom Dey, the director responsible for the far more entertaining Shanghai Noon.
With its cliched plot and limited humour I could only recommend Showtime to the non-discerning and easily pleased.
Rating: 
|
