Showtime (2002)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Tom Dey

Writers (WGA):

Jorge Saralegui (story)
Keith Sharon (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 March 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

Lights. Camera. Aggravation.

Plot:

A spoof of buddy cop movies where two very different cops are forced to team up on a new reality based T.V. cop show.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Lapd | Drugs | Buddy Cop | Hidden Camera

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	Det. Mitch Preston
Rachael Harris	...	Teacher (as Rachel Harris)
Eddie Murphy	...	Officer Trey Sellars
Zaid Farid	...	Police Captain Ben
Alex Borstein	...	Casting Director
Holly Mandel	...	Producer
Marshall Manesh	...	Convenience Store Owner
Nestor Serrano	...	Ray
T.J. Cross	...	ReRun (as TJ Cross)
Mos Def	...	Lazy Boy
James Roday	...	'Showtime' Cameraman
Joel Hurt Jones	...	Reporter #1
Chris Harrison	...	Reporter #2
Perri Peltz	...	Reporter #3
Amy Powell	...	Reporter #4

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for action violence, language and some drug content.

Runtime:

95 min | Finland:96 min | Spain:96 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Canada:PG | Czech Republic:12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Material

Trivia:

The head shot photo of Eddie Murphy in the tuxedo is a still from The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the brief low-angle shot of Robert De Niro's stuntman landing on the hood of the car during the garbage truck chase, a camera crew can be seen filming a different angle on the scene in the lower right of frame (may only be visible in 4:3 version of movie).

Quotes:

[Why Mitch started doing pottery]
Detective Mitch Preston: My ex and I were on the rocks, and my marriage counselor said I needed to take up a hobby.
Trey Sellars: How come you never got good at it?
Detective Mitch Preston: Well, it's kind of like you and police work. I never took it that seriously.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: The Making of 'Showtime' (#9.4)" (2002)

Soundtrack:

Ballad of the Green Berets

A Day Job?

Watching Showtime I got the impression that the producers got the idea to put Robert DeNiro and Eddie Murphy just for the sake of having a film that co-starred the two of them. Other than that I can't think of a reason to justify the film's existence. Not that it isn't amusing in spots, it certainly is, but the concept is so completely ludicrous that the laughs are somewhat muted.

The thing that really got me was Eddie Murphy's character. I can't seem to wrap my mind around the concept of someone being a police officer as strictly a day job. When I was working person at New York State Crime Victims Board I had to deal with all kinds of cops and they ran the gamut between the really dedicated and some real slugs, but I can't think of one who thought that this was just something I do until I get my career going in an area far afield. I mean, can you really see Eddie Murphy or anyone else going through the rigors of the real Police Academy, not the screen version, just to get a day job?

Anyway DeNiro is your basic hard working detective who's on the trail of a major gun dealer. He's undercover and Murphy is part of his backup. So what does the showboating Murphy do, he calls a reality based TV series like COPS to film the action.

So DeNiro's bust gets blown sky high, but the producer of the show gets some good footage of Murphy and DeNiro and decides on a new reality based television series. So these unwilling partners get joined and try to continue working DeNiro's case with all the TV cameras around.

Eddie Murphy's a funny guy, I loved him in Beverly Hills Cop and in the Doctor Doolittle movies, but he's done better things than Showtime and Robert DeNiro certainly has.

I guess Murphy wanted a chance to work with DeNiro and DeNiro must have gotten one hefty paycheck to do this film.