April 2002 Volume 83 Number 4 "serving the protectors"
Edited by John Ballantyne

Showtime

This film is more than a spoof of the familiar “buddy-cop” movie. It is a story for our times – a hilarious satire on the conflict between good policing practices and PR. At times, it cuts quite close to the bone.

No-nonsense LAPD detective Mitch Preston (Robert De Niro) is a man of few words and little patience. All he wants is to be left alone to do his job the way he’s been doing it for more than 20 years.

Patrol officer Trey Sellars (Eddie Murphy) is a different story. An incompetent cop, he fantasizes about acting a heroic one on television and spends his evenings perfecting action poses in front of a mirror.

One night Trey stumbles into an undercover operation in progress, inadvertently blowing Mitch’s big chance of nailing a gang of drug dealers. Moments later, a television news crew barges in on the action, lights ablaze, further hindering Mitch’s attempts to catch his fleeing suspects.

Frustrated at seeing months of work go down the drain, the detective fires a shot at the camera.

Mitch’s impulsive action makes the newspaper headlines the next day and earns his department a potential $10 million lawsuit from the TV network.

Mitch’s boss, the Chief of Police, decides that the only way to repair this PR debacle is to put Mitch on television every week so he can convince viewers that he’s really a nice guy.

Powerhouse television producer Chase Renzi (René Russo), eager for high audience ratings, sells the Chief of Police on the idea of letting her crew follow Mitch around the clock for a live reality show about cops.

But, first, to compensate for Mitch’s gruff manner, Renzi must find him a suitable partner – someone more polished, more media savvy, someone more like... Trey.

Never mind that Mitch can’t stand the sight of him. Together, they’re poised to become the stars of the biggest hit reality show in television history.

For Mitch, it’s a living hell. For Trey, it’s his dream come true. It’s Showtime.

Mitch, who is more interested in concentrating on his police work, is constantly distracted by producers who are more concerned about wardrobe selection, re-decorating his apartment, and even forcing him to adopt a dog to improve his image for the viewers.

The ill-matched couple set off on patrol in a car stacked with hidden cameras and microphones.

Renzi instructs the two cops to act naturally, but then can’t resist the temptation to stage-manage every scene (“look to your left”, “speak up a little”, “show us the gun”).

Further blurring the line between authenticity and entertainment, the network brings in actor William Shatner (appearing as himself and playing on his T.J. Hooker persona).

The actor Shatner gives the real cop Mitch gratuitous advice on how to look more like a cop to fulfill audience expectations.

He coaches Mitch on how to adopt a repertoire of theatrical action moves that would make any actual police officer cringe.

For your chance to win one of 25 Showtime double passes (valid until April 24), put your details on the back of an envelope and send it to Showtime Comp, SA Police Journal (168).

Charlotte Gray

Set in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, Charlotte Gray is an elegantly produced adventure-romance based on the best-selling novel by Sebastian Faulks.

A young Scottish woman Charlotte (Cate Blanchett) learns that her lover, an RAF pilot (Rupert Penry-Jones), has been shot down in the line of duty.

To serve her country and to attempt to find the man she loves, Charlotte enlists in a clandestine mission with the French Resistance.

Assuming a new identity, “Dominique”, she is parachuted behind enemy lines in southern France, where she meets up with local underground resistance leader, Julien Levade (Billy Crudip).

Posing as the new housekeeper for Julien’s father (Michael Gambon), “Dominique” serves as a liaison between the British government and the resistance fighters, helping to thwart Nazi efforts to move munitions and abduct local Jews, while secretly attempting to learn the fate of her missing lover.

A once rather ordinary woman, Charlotte comes to perform extraordinary acts of heroism, jeopardizing her own safety to protect the helpless. But when the German Gestapo closes in and their mission is compromised, she and Julien are forced to take flight or risk capture and certain death.

The Time Machine

This is the classic tale of time travel by one of the great fathers of science-fiction, H.G. Wells.

Based on Wells’ story, written over a century ago, the movie The Time Machine is about scientist and inventor Alexander Hartdegen’s determination to prove that time travel is possible.

Testing his theories with a time machine of his own invention, Hartdegen is hurtled 800,000 years into the future, where he discovers that mankind has evolved into two species: the gentle, childlike Eloi, and the hideous, predatory, underground-dwelling Morlocks.

The Time Machine stars Guy Pearce (Memento, L.A. Confidential) as the time traveller and is directed by none other than H.G. Wells’ great-grandson, Simon Wells.

Despite this film’s spectacular special effects, many critics still prefer the earlier George Pal version from the 1960s.

A Beautiful Mind

Director Ron Howard tackles the life of brilliant American mathematician, John Forbes Nash (Russell Crowe).

The film looks at Nash’s genius and the onset of his debilitating mental illness.

Nash wins a prestigious academic post, which includes crucial code-breaking work for the US government.

He meets and marries a beautiful and brilliant student, Alicia (Jennifer Connelly), but their happiness is threatened, as Nash – belatedly diagnosed as schizophrenic – descends into madness.

Russell Crowe gives a convincing portrayal of Nash’s complex and tormented character, complete with sweating and facial tics.

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