Cops Reality Show squashed by action

SHOWTIME (2002)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

My best argument about a formulaic confection treat like "Showtime" is to say the following: it could've been worse. As it stands, the movie is neither as good or as bad as reported. It simply exists and works as time-filler but, dammit, if the critic inside me doesn't think that with high-powered, charismatic acting leads at its core, it should've been so much more.

I'll put it simply: the concept works. Eddie Murphy is a mediocre cop who can't pass his detective exams, yet he is content with pretending to be a cop on a TV show he's vying to star in. Robert De Niro is a real cop who can't stand TV cameramen and definitely can't stand Eddie. So, naturally, after De Niro busts a ring of thieves and shoots a cameraman's camera, he is obligated to star in a reality show about being a cop! And guess who his new partner is? That is a rhetorical question. Add in William Shatner playing himself as he coaches De Niro (!) on how to play a cop on TV thanks to Shat-tastic's days as T.J. Hooker.

The problem may stem from underutilizing its concept. They take it far but not far enough. The screenwriters decide to throw a subplot in about an arms dealer and some business revolving around a super machine gun that can destroy police cars and armored trucks with ease. Some of it rings hollow and eradicates the film's humor potential. Rather than sticking with the idea of a reality show with the whip-smart Rene Russo running the behind-the-scenes shenanigans, "Showtime" thinks it needs to spice things up by adding remotely watchable action scenes and explosions galore and glass breakage, and you know the rest. I did like the truck bit and the swimming-pool-above-the-office- floor climax, but it doesn't compare with Russo and company making De Niro's apartment more audience-friendly or Shatner's acting coach lessons.

On the scale of recent De Niro cinematic turds and Eddie Murphy's wholesome family pictures, "Showtime" is better than most recent De Niro flicks but not a tenth as good as Eddie's rollicking Beverly Hills Cop franchise. Still, for a mediocre movie, it is sort of fun and engaging enough to make one wish somebody rewrote the screenplay and exploited its premise for all its worth.