"'Hollywood' Suicide"
by Scott Mantz

"Hollywood Homicide"
Harrison Ford, Josh Hartnett
Directed by Ron Shelton

To protect and to serve! Josh Hartnett and Harrison Ford are on the scene in "Hollywood Homicide"

Oh, how the mighty have fallen...

Remember the good old days, when the prospect of seeing a Harrison Ford movie was something to get excited about? After all, we are talking about the guy who played Han Solo and Indiana Jones in some of the greatest movies of all time, not to mention box office hits like "The Fugitive," "Witness," "Air Force One" and two of the Jack Ryan movies.

Well, judging by his recent track record, which includes box office duds like "K-19: The Widowmaker" and "Random Hearts," those days are long gone. OK, so 2000's "What Lies Beneath" did well, but the success of that film owed more to Michelle Pfeiffer's incredible performance and Robert Zemeckis' Hitchcockian direction than it did to Ford's supporting turn.

Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that the action comedy "Hollywood Homicide" will return Ford to his former "sure thing" status, and for three good reasons. For one thing, it's not very funny. Second, nobody wants to see Harrison Ford play the loser he plays here, and finally, it's hard for a big actor like Ford to do a small movie like this. Beyond that, director Ron Shelton's cop story, which arrives just 4 months after his last LA-based cop drama "Dark Blue," is a slow-moving, generic, cliche-ridden vehicle that represents career suicide for all involved.

Veteran LA police detective Joe Gavilan (Harrison Ford) may be at the top of his game, but his personal life is in shambles. He's been married three times, he drinks like a fish, and his finances are all tied up in a palatial Hollywood estate that he can't get rid of. His young partner K.C. Calden (Josh Hartnett) is not only having doubts about being a cop, but he would much rather focus on his side career as an aspiring actor. When Gavilan and Calden get caught up in a high-profile murder investigation involving a rap group, they have no choice but to focus on the matter at hand in the land of blue skies, palm trees and dead bodies.

Despite its best efforts to re-introduce Ford to a younger, hipper audience, "Hollywood Homicide" is a missed opportunity in almost every way. The two cops are already partners, so we never get to see them clash as they find their way in their professional relationship. In addition, the whole prospect of having two cops with conflicting side jobs should have been ripe with hilarity, but the jokes are surprisingly lame and uninspired. There's also a weak subplot involving an internal affairs investigation of Ford's character, but it feels incredibly contrived and doesn't gel with the rest of the film.

Moviegoers expect a lot from Ford, so it's hard for him to kick back with a more lighthearted role where he doesn't have to save the universe from terrorists, Nazis or stormtroopers. In this case, he seems terribly bored until the film's climactic car chase (which pales in comparison to those found in "The Italian Job," "2 Fast 2 Furious" and "The Matrix Reloaded"), and he looks awkward when standing next to co-star Josh Hartnett, who's a good two inches taller than he is. Ford and Hartnett are also hampered by their limited range, which makes one wish that Will Smith and Martin Lawrence were cast in the film instead (at least they're right around the corner in "Bad Boys II," which, ironically, was co-written by Shelton).

At least some of the supporting performances hold up, particularly Lena Olin, who's quite sexy at 47 and has a kinky, amusing love scene with Ford (the best scene in the movie). Martin Landau seems to be enjoying himself as a Lew Wasserman-style producer who's trying to have Ford sell his house, while Bruce Greenwood goes over the top as the Internal Affairs investigator who's constantly busting Ford's chops.

Writer/director Ron Shelton may have hit a home run with "Bull Durham," a film that many regard as one of the greatest baseball movies of all time, but as evidenced by recent films like "Dark Blue" and "Play it to the Bone," it's obvious that he's lost his touch. The same goes for Harrison Ford, who seems to be caught in the throes of a career midlife crisis. To that extent, I can only say this...

Start cracking that whip, baby, 'cause "Indiana Jones 4" can't get here fast enough.

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