Joe Gavilan (Harrison Ford) is an LAPD officer moonlighting as a real-estate agent to make ends meet. K.C. Calden (Josh Hartnett) is a fellow officer, sometimes masquerading as a yoga instructor to meet women, and harbouring some serious acting aspirations. As the two struggle to pursue their sideline businesses, they get called up to investigate the mysterious murder of a rap group called H20 Klick. As the duo track down the killers, plenty of laughs ensue as they both desperately attempt to sell their alternative careers to anyone that crosses their paths. Joe attempts to sell property to the nightclub owner where the shootings took place, and K.C. endlessly quotes movie dialogue in an attempt to brush up on his acting skills at the most inopportune moments. The action builds to a frantic finale involving some spectacular--and hilarious--car chases around the crime-strewn streets of Los Angeles. Director Ron Shelton (BULL DURHAM) utilises some eccentric casting (Martin Landau and Master P both have cameo roles), a string of witty one-liners, and spectacular location shoots to tell this humorous tale. Ford and Hartnett make a convincing on-screen partnership, clearly enjoying their roles as mismatched cop buddies, and providing plenty of laughs among the often chaotic, action-packed sequences.
There was a time when the name Harrison Ford above a movie title guaranteed a smash hit, but over the last few years Ford seems to have lost some of that old magic with flops such as K-19: the Widowmaker and Random Hearts taking some of the polish off the once golden boy. In the US, Hollywood Homicide continued the downwards trend, which is a pity, because it's a serviceable enough buddy movie. Ford plays a homicide detective who's busier moonlighting with his real-estate deals than solving crimes, while partner Josh Hartnett is an affable dimwit with a yen to take to the stage. The plot makes little sense, and it all degenerates into the inevitable car chase in the final act, but there's just enough wit in the script and chemistry between the likeable leads to offset much of the hoary genre's predictability.
Halliwell's Film Guide
Predictable cop-buddy-comedy-thriller in which neither cast nor director seem much interested.
Radio Times
