Back in 1986 I went to a drive-in to see a current movie called Born American. It starred Mike Norris, who is Chuck's son. Unfortunately Mike wasn't the gifted thespian Chuck is. It was not his lot in life to be a popular action hero. Born American deals with some red-blooded American boys caught behind enemy lines in Russia. It certainly isn't a great movie, and it is steeped in Reagan-era politics, but I liked it. I remember it was a warm Sunday night, the drive-in was nearly empty, and we had a couple of cheesy action movies to enjoy. Life was pretty good back then.
The second feature was a little better. Hollywood Vice Squad was directed by the renowned Penelope Spheeris, who previously made genuine classic films like The Decline of Western Civilization, Suburbia, and The Boys Next Door. Unfortunately Hollywood Vice Squad falls short of those cinema milestones.
The movie deals with a motley group of Hollywood cops who try to make the city a better place. They battle drug lords, sleazebag pornographers, and numbers runners.
Frank Gorshin, a long way down from playing The Riddler on the old Batman show, plays a greasy old skeezer running a hooker syndicate. His latest acquisition is a runaway played by Robin Wright in her first movie role.
Carrie Fisher plays a rookie woman detective trying to be taken serious in a macho environment. I'd say her career was in a real lull in '86, but that's the same year as Hannah and Her Sisters, which has her best work.
Weary comic relief is provided by two vice cops played by Evan C. Kim and Joey Travolta. There are lots of un-PC yucks at Kim's expense, and Travolta is only slightly less goofy than his performance as an astronaut in Amazon Women on the Moon.
You get Blaxploitation stalwart Leon Isaac Kennedy going undercover as a pimp trying to infiltrate Gorshin's racket, and Ronny Cox plays the Ronny Cox character as the steely-eyed chief of the vice detectives.
Hollywood Vice Squad isn't nearly as effective as similar movies like Angel or Vice Squad, but it's a game effort and I had a good time revisiting it. I doubt Spheeris is very proud of the movie, but at least this one is better than Dudes.
If watching bumbling cops deal with druggies, perverts, prostitutes, and predators is your cup of tea, you could do a lot worse than Hollywood Vice Squad. They don't make 'em like this anymore, and I suppose that's a good thing. There's too much in here to offend in today's climate. Still, I sort of miss the rude days of exploitation from yesteryear.
Written by Mark Sieber
The second feature was a little better. Hollywood Vice Squad was directed by the renowned Penelope Spheeris, who previously made genuine classic films like The Decline of Western Civilization, Suburbia, and The Boys Next Door. Unfortunately Hollywood Vice Squad falls short of those cinema milestones.
The movie deals with a motley group of Hollywood cops who try to make the city a better place. They battle drug lords, sleazebag pornographers, and numbers runners.
Frank Gorshin, a long way down from playing The Riddler on the old Batman show, plays a greasy old skeezer running a hooker syndicate. His latest acquisition is a runaway played by Robin Wright in her first movie role.Carrie Fisher plays a rookie woman detective trying to be taken serious in a macho environment. I'd say her career was in a real lull in '86, but that's the same year as Hannah and Her Sisters, which has her best work.
Weary comic relief is provided by two vice cops played by Evan C. Kim and Joey Travolta. There are lots of un-PC yucks at Kim's expense, and Travolta is only slightly less goofy than his performance as an astronaut in Amazon Women on the Moon.
You get Blaxploitation stalwart Leon Isaac Kennedy going undercover as a pimp trying to infiltrate Gorshin's racket, and Ronny Cox plays the Ronny Cox character as the steely-eyed chief of the vice detectives.
Hollywood Vice Squad isn't nearly as effective as similar movies like Angel or Vice Squad, but it's a game effort and I had a good time revisiting it. I doubt Spheeris is very proud of the movie, but at least this one is better than Dudes.
If watching bumbling cops deal with druggies, perverts, prostitutes, and predators is your cup of tea, you could do a lot worse than Hollywood Vice Squad. They don't make 'em like this anymore, and I suppose that's a good thing. There's too much in here to offend in today's climate. Still, I sort of miss the rude days of exploitation from yesteryear.
Written by Mark Sieber
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