Showtime Movie Review:


SHOWTIME is a mediocre film that makes fun of buddy cop movies such as Lethal Weapon. It stars Robert De Niro as Mitch Preston, a tough no-nonsense veteran detective and Eddie Murphy as Trey Sellars, a rookie cop with an overblown personality who really wants to be an actor.

After Trey messes up Mitch’s undercover drug bust which causes Mitch to shoot and destroy a video camera belonging to a tv network, they are forced to work together as stars of a new cop reality-based tv series called Showtime.

Trey welcomes this opportunity with open arms and sees it as his big break into showbiz. On the other hand, Mitch can’t stand the idea of working with the incompetent Trey and doesn’t want anything to do with being on tv or acting. Nonetheless he has to go along with it since his captain ordered him to do it. The captain thinks it’s good publicity. He also wants to avoid the police department from getting sued by the network for destroying camera equipment and putting a cameraman in danger caused by Mitch‘s actions.

Rene Russo plays Chase Renzi, the producer who is supposed to make the show exciting. She is constantly interfering in their lives by doing such things as redecorating their offices and apartments without asking Trey or Mitch’s permission. This irritates Mitch not to mention that he is not to happy having cameras following him wherever he is.

At the same time Mitch is trying to catch a gang that uses custom made guns to rob armored trucks.

This odd couple match up of Murphy and De Niro has very little chemistry and is mildly humorous. The story is very weak and fails to deliver the big laughs.

It’s not that Murphy and De Niro don’t try to be funny, it is just that they have very little to work with. Even the outtakes at the end are not that amusing. Showtime is basically a B film with A stars that should have been developed more before being made.

De Niro basically plays a stereotype of himself and Murphy does a pretty lame version of his usual shtick. For both of them this film is a walk in the park. An easy paycheck for the stars but not very entertaining for the audience.

Showtime will have you chuckle a bit but it’s nothing to write home about.

Gil Benzeevi

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