The Mod Squad (1999)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

Scott Silver

Writers (WGA):

Buddy Ruskin (characters)
Stephen T. Kay (written by) ...

Release Date:

26 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

They did the crime, They paid the time, Now they're...undercover?

Plot:

Three minor delinquints (Danes, Ribisi, and Epps) are recruited by a cop (Farina) working undercover to bust a cop/drug ring...

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Undercover | Murder | Drug Ring | Foot Chase

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Claire Danes	...	Julie Barnes
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Peter Cochran
Omar Epps	...	Lincoln Hayes
Dennis Farina	...	Captain Adam Greer
Josh Brolin	...	Billy Waites
Steve Harris	...	Det. Briggs
Richard Jenkins	...	Det. Bob Mothershed
Larry Brandenburg	...	Det. Tom Eckford
Lionel Mark Smith	...	Det. Earnie Lanier
Sam McMurray	...	Det. Tricky
Michael O'Neill	...	Det. Carl Greene
Stephen T. Kay	...	Bald Dude (Gilbert's Pal)
Bodhi Elfman	...	Gilbert 'Skinny Freak' O'Reiley (as Bodhi Pine Elfman)
Holmes Osborne	...	Mr. Cochrane
Dey Young	...	Mrs. Cochrane

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence and some sexuality.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Milla Jovovich were among the actresses who were considered for the role of Julie Barnes.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Billy Waites drives to the party with his prostitutes, he is driving a Cadillac Seville (4-door). When Julie Barnes leaves and steals the car, they show a Cadillac Eldorado (2-door) driving away. When she lights it on fire, it is back to being a Seville again.

Quotes:

Det. Briggs: So you kids are, what? Some kind of mod squad or something?

Movie Connections:

References Lethal Weapon (1987)

The lowest expectations are still too high ...

If the writers of a movie don't care about the characters inhabiting the world they create, nor the actors portraying them, or the director ostensibly creating a dynamic, well it doesn't seem realistic the audience will care either.

To call this movie slapdash is an undeserved compliment--it's likely they figured it was a lost cause and that no amount of work would improve it. That's probably true.

Omar Epps isn't a very good actor to begin with, but here he's even worse than usual, mumbling his lines without a clue as to what is going on in the movie. Giovanni Rabisi seems to have fun with his role, but playing one imbecile after another, one gets the feeling he may not be so much acting as giving a glimmer as to his real personality. Claire Danes obviously can act, as she showed in "Little Women", but here she's dreadful. Dennis Farina is good in just about anything, but here he's given absolutely no help by the director or the other actors.

The movie quickly devolves into a series of music videos with bad seventies music intermixed with more modern stuff. And this squad is not very mod--the opening sequence notes that mod means fashionably dressed, and these guys look like they've been shopping by picking up things strewn on the side of an interstate. Go elsewhere for entertainment.