The Mod Squad

Rating:
Summary: Actors, Audience Given The Short Shrift
Review: Three young people on the wrong side of the law are given a chance to turn their lives around and become useful members of society by becoming undercover cops in "The Mod Squad," a resurrection of the hit television series of the '60's, directed by Scott Silver. Given their less than stellar backgrounds, and because of who they are and the people they know, Julie Barnes (Claire Danes), Pete Cochran (Giovanni Ribisi) and Lincoln Hayes (Omar Epps) can go places other cops can't, so they are tapped by Captain Adam Greer (Dennis Farina) to infiltrate a seedy night spot suspected of being a front for a prostitution ring. For a start, Julie gets a job there as a waitress, while Pete and Linc just "hang out" to find out what they may. Julie quickly becomes reacquainted with an old boyfriend, Billy Waites (Josh Brolin), who turns out to be involved with drugs, which are tied in to the shady dealings going down at the bar. Before it's over, the "squad" is in it up to their necks, while also running afoul of a bunch of wrong cops who are also involved with the drugs, and consequently tied in with their investigation. From the beginning of the movie, there is a sense that you are coming in late; as if it's presupposed that you know what's going on as far as the origin and workings of the squad. All you get here are brief mug-shot bios of the three that give you nothing more than a glimpse into their past; there's nothing about how this all actually came about. The thinking was probably that by doing it this way it would lead into the story quicker, get things moving along. While this is true to a certain extent, some added background would have made the texture of the story a bit more interesting; the way it was done here merely depreciates the credibility of the entire proceedings. The plot is marginal to begin with, and any time spent on character development would have been well worth the while. What's delivered, and quite unimaginatively at that, is a less than compelling story filled with one dimensional characters. The performances are satisfactory, but the actors get no help from the script, nor apparently from Silver; Danes, Ribisi and Epps come close to fleshing out Julie, Pete and Linc, but given the time allotted them, combined with the lack of support, they still fall way short of giving these people life. Farina, a good actor who deserves better than what he gets here, comes off as nothing more than a caricature of the "good cop." There's a feeling that everything was given the once-over in this film; some detail and nuance would have driven the stock up considerably on this one. The supporting cast includes Richard Jenkins (Detective Mothershed), Steve Harris (Briggs), Larry Brandenburg (Eckford), Lionel Mark Smith (Lanier) and Sam McMurray (Tricky). It's a shame to see the acting talent involved here wasted like this; a lot more thought and planning should have gone into the making of this movie. As it is, it comes across as ill-conceived and poorly executed. Danes, Ribisi and Epps are like Major Leaguers who got stuck playing for all the marbles at the local sandlot; instead of getting a shot at the title, they all got hung out to dry. Like Terry says in "On The Waterfront," "You was my brother, Charlie, you shoulda been looking out for me." Well, it's obvious that there was no Charlie to look out for them here, and after "The Mod Squad," they can all just hope for something better to come along the next time.

Rating:
Summary: Great Television Show, Lousy Movie
Review: When I heard they were doing a "re-make" of the ground-breaking, popular and critically-acclaimed Mod Squad tv show, I had a bad feeling about it. I decided to give it a shot, though. Big mistake. When about the only thing you keep from the original are the names, you know a movie is in trouble. They made Julie, who originally was very emotional and fragile, into a fistfighting brat, and turned the passionate Pete Cochran character into a clown and a moron. The director obviously had no regard for the original, which is too bad. The tv show Mod Squad was nominated for writing and acting Emmys; it broke ground on subjects from racism, to abortion and sex education. The actors were top-notch. None of that can be said about the movie. My recomendation - skip the movie, and rent videos of the original!

Rating:
Summary: Not that great
Review: While Claire Danes is stunning in this slow, boring action flick, I found the film to be less than entertaining. The premise for "The Mod Squad" is excellent, and could have been just great, but the plot falls short of anything expected by the viewer. Although this movie is definitely not worth buying, it's a good choice for video rental.

Rating:
Summary: Not that great
Review: While Claire Danes is stunning in this slow, boring action flick, I found the film to be less than entertaining. The premise for "The Mod Squad" is excellent, and could have been just great, but the plot falls short of anything expected by the viewer. Although this movie is definitely not worth buying, it's a good choice for video rental.