What can
you say when the best thing about a movie is William Shatner
playing himself and parodying his own persona? Not much. But
that is exactly the best there is going for Robert DeNiro and
Eddie Murphy’s supremely unfunny and tired misfire Showtime.
From two actors who know better, this is a ninety-minute
endurance test worth avoiding.
Gruff
Detective Mitch Preston (DeNiro) has a take-no-prisoners
attitude when it comes to fighting crime. If that means being a
little brash when it comes to dealing with members of the press,
so be it. But when his recent antics include attacking a
cameraman of a hot reality crime series and berating a brash
young rookie beat cop named Trey (Murphy), Mitch finds himself
having to walk the plank of embarrassment so as to keep up the
good image of the police department.
In order
to avoid suspension the dour detective is forced to team up with
Trey and be the star of a new reality cop television series that
is being produced by network executive Chase Renzi (Rene Russo,
who should know better, too). But Mitch isn’t given to having to
"act" his reality, and soon he’s taking instruction from the
brash rookie who’s learned more about police work from watching
television. Thus, he knows exactly what makes a good boob-tube
crime fighter and makes the most of making the disgruntled Mitch
his flustered pupil.
These are
the film’s best moments as Murphy and DeNiro have an easy
chemistry that generates one or two genuine laughs. You can tell
they are enjoying themselves here, as is William Shatner –
playing himself – who shows up to give the duo pointers on how
to be modern-day T.J. Hooker’s. In fact, if the film had
continued in this vein, slyly deconstructing the reality of
"reality" television, Showtime would be a lot of fun. But
this, unfortunately, is not the case at all, and the movie is
much more the worse because of it.
It is as
if the powers that be at Warner Bros. had little faith in a cop
film that wanted no more than to poke fun at a television craze.
Instead, the final two thirds of Showtime revolve around
crazy arms dealers and a mysterious "Great White Shark" of
handheld hardware that supposedly doesn’t exist, but does. Mitch
and Trey must spend the rest of the film chasing down these
weapons and stopping their owners from causing mass destruction
and havoc, but seeing as everything in Showtime seems to
be constantly blowing up or falling down I can’t say they are
too terribly successful.
Tom Dey,
who showed a light easy-going touch with
Shanghai Noon, directs as if he knows full well the
futility of it all. Scenes cling together by threads so thin
that it takes all of a viewers' strength to not want to see them
cut loose. It is all painstakingly by the numbers and I could
tell DeNiro and Murphy knew it. Save for those glorious brief
moments where they learn how to “act” so to enhance a controlled
"reality," neither actor appears too interested in finding out
where Showtime is going to go next.
Unfortunately, unlike television, there is no "off" switch to
hit when things start to get really tedious, for Showtime
is one shot of theatrical escapism that should be cancelled
quickly and given no chance for syndication.
