Showtime (2002)

Very disappointing...

Sorry, this movie sucks

Great Film overall

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Of course, I could be wrong but I seriously doubt that the film in question, Showtime is not to too many folks the greatest movie ever made. However, Showtime is a pretty decent buddy action/comedy that is fairly entertaining. Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro are a mismatched pair of cops that are working together and are being filmed on a reality cop show called Showtime. Both of these actors are great at what they do with De Niro being an excellent dramatic actor Eddie is a comic genius and while Robert De Niro is one of the best actors of his time Eddie Murphy is equally talented in the comedic realm. Also, both of these guys worked with director Martin Breast and made two of the best action comedies, Beverly Hills Cop and Midnight Run. Showtime can't really hold a candle against either of these classics, but still is pretty fast paced, lighthearted and action packed entertainment. Both Murphy and De Niro are great here, but the film itself is nothing spectacular. You could do much worst for an evenings entertainment and this is in my opinion, Eddie Murphy's best modern comedy that suites my tastes much better than the crappy family movies he has focused on since his classic period in the 80's and early 90's.

On paper, Showtime had the potential to be a hilarious comedy. On screen, the result is predictable and bland. Robert De Niro, Eddie Murphy and Rene Russo had the potential to make Showtime work, but not even these talented actors can save this movie. The screenplay looked very promising, and I was looking forward to seeing Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy team up. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed with the end result.Robert De Niro plays Detective Mitch Preston, a no nonsense, humourless and gruff 28 year LAPD veteran who is partnered with Officer Trey Sellars played by Eddie Murphy who has life long aspirations to become an actor. Mitch Preston and Trey Sellars meet in unceremonious circumstances after Trey Sellars accidentally interferes in Mitch Preston's planned drug bust. Mitch Preston finds himself in further trouble when he angrily confronts a camera crew and shoots a camera. Mitch Preston is forced to appear on a police reality TV show called Showtime in exchange for the television network to drop the lawsuit against Mitch. Trey Sellars is recruited to appear on the reality show after he showcases his acting abilities and from there Mitch Preston and Trey Sellars are paired together by the show's producer Chase Renzi played by Rene Russo. While Trey Sellars drives Mitch Preston up the wall throughout the entire series, producers are strongly convinced the two make a great duo for entertainment purposes. Trey Sellars thrives in soaking up the limelight whereas Mitch Preston is very annoyed that the show is interfering with his life. Mitch and Trey must also track down the escaped drug dealers that evaded capture from Mitch at the start of the movie. William Shatner appears as himself as a technical adviser for the show.Robert De Niro finds himself out of place and going through the motions here in Showtime. While he has built his reputation on great movies such as The Godfather Part II (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990) and Heat (1995), he comes across cursing at himself like he has made a big mistake in appearing in this turkey. His character Mitch Preston is grumpy and not an interesting character in the slightest.Eddie Murphy in his prime is one of the funniest actors on screen. Look no further than 48 Hrs (1982), Trading Places (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), and Coming to America (1988). Even his stand up shows Eddie Murphy: Delirious (1983) and Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987) showcase his best R-Rated foul mouthed humour that audiences knew and loved. Eddie Murphy has since found himself drawn to family friendly comedies which has been very hit and miss. In Showtime, Eddie Murphy tries too hard to be funny but fails miserably. His character Trey Sellars comes across as a slapstick buffoon who would not look out of place in they Keystone Kops silent comedy era.The rest of the cast I felt they couldn't save this movie at all, particularly Rene Russo who is normally a decent actress who could do no wrong. William Shatner spoofing his T.J. Hooker character was just one big unfunny joke.Showtime does little justice to the buddy cop comedy genre and the entire movie was just a fizzer. It's a total shame that not even Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy could make this movie work, given the potential. What a total shame.4/10.

Like some other review said, I gave this movie a 10 because it made me laugh and it's well produced. De Niro and Murphy roles are amazingly delivered by each of them, and even the dog scenes are to make you laugh. My favorite part is when Russo describes Mitch's apartment as a good match to his personality as she opens the window and she finds that the view from there is a brick wall. My other favorite part is the dog with his nose covered in white dust. Another scene is Mitch trying to get out of his new Hummer without being noticed by his fellow co-workers. One of my heart breakers is when they try to take away everything Mitch given to decorate his apartment to make it look sophisticated, but he holds on to the dog that he didn't even want in to begin with.

I don't understand jokes. I do believe this is my problem with modern cinema, or those films that are made with millions of dollars in hopes that it will become the next greatest sensation. Isn't it odd – people just don't laugh as much anymore, and I do believe one of the diseases to that problem is the film "Showtime". There was absolutely nothing, from the beginning to the end of the credits, with all of the bantering between Murphy and De Niro, with Russo as eye candy, with even standard clichés which make the general population swoon with pre-programmed laughter, there was nothing in this film that made me laugh. There weren't the overbearing physical jokes or the calculated mental vocal jokes at all throughout this debacle of a film. From the beginning, I didn't buy the match-up of De Niro and Murphy as anything more than Hollywood excitement, throughout the commentary the director vividly talks about the hijinks and laughter going on during the shoot – where was it in the film? This falls to either two problems – the director really doesn't have a sense of comedy or the editor didn't understand the value of the film. Either way, they both doomed the entire hour and a half spent on the Hollywood nightmare "Showtime".Outside of finding no reason to laugh, there was no reason to follow these characters through any moment of the film. There was a glimpse of humor with De Niro's desire to pick up pottery as a hobby (but the director had to write KILN on the machine so audiences would understand – WHO DOES THAT?), but that was dropped and never developed. There was the idea that Murphy was an actor, but outside of that one opening monologue, nobody would have understood that. He rents a room in a producer's house in which he can afford on a police officer's salary? This just didn't compute even for Hollywood standards. There was a bad guy who wanted a big gun, but the gun was never developed, nor was there any true test of the weapons capability … even at the end. It became a bigger joke to laugh at an accent than remember the guns. Where was the television show in this? Russo had to get permission from this random guy at the beginning, but there were no consequences. There was nothing in the middle of this film outside of further questions and meaningless dribble. Random characters were introduced, forgotten, re-introduced, and forgotten all over again. The director and producer laughed at this, while we, the meager viewer, must suffer through inside jokes and cliché stereotypes.Was there a love interest in this film? Was there a truly sinister bad guy that went apart from the comic duo to bring true evil to the screen? Were there any pop culture references that didn't come back to Robert De Niro? Was there random chaos throughout this film? If you need the answers to these, obviously, you won't find them in "Showtime". The fact that I am riddling this review with question upon question, only means that this sub-par (actually, well below sub-sub-sub par) filled no quota or resembled anything of value to the cinematic world. Sure, it had big names and one really neat explosion, but there was nothing of substance to this at all. It was almost as if the director said prior to the shoot that he wanted clichés, but not regular clichés – go with the bad ones. The plot had no linear structure. The jokes were boring. The characters were drab and underdeveloped. This ranks below even the best of "buddy-cop" films. I like to give films the benefit of the doubt, but nothing worked in this film. Not even Shatner could save this film, and he even tried hard.Overall, I cannot, nor will I, suggest this film to anyone with a pulse. The commentary only confirms the pathetic nature of the film with obvious flaws, horrid jokes, and creators questioning the validity of their work. If creators can't stand behind "Showtime", why should we? I didn't want a "Lethal Weapon" when I watched this, but I did want something like that. I understand there was some form of criticism of "reality television" and the corrupt nature of the media, but that message didn't make it off the page. In fact, I believe I saw "media" leave the theater first when I watched this. Shame carries its heavy hand with this film and I cannot blame it. Murphy used to be a big star, comedy was his middle name (see "Coming to America"), but lately he seems to have lost his edge. De Niro obviously wants to get away from an image that haunts him, but making these sort of films is only going to set him back further. One of these films is equal to one Scorsese picture.Skip this one. I promise, it will make your final cinematic days worthwhile. Oh, and if you laughed at any of the jokes in this film – I am truly sorry! Grade: * out of *****