World Famous Comics: Showtime (Widescreen Edition)
Showtime (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Robert De Niro, Rachael Harris, Eddie Murphy, Zaid Farid, Alex Borstein Directed By: Tom Dey Average Rating: Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: DVD Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Warner Home Video Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: August 13, 2002 Running Time: 95 minutes Theatrical Release Date: March 15, 2002
Description: Book 'em! The excitement revs up and the wit hits the fan when superstars Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy star in this action/comedy winner about mismatched LAPD partners who become the stars of a reality-TV cop series.
DVD Features: Audio Commentary:Commmentary by director Tom Dey, producer Jorge Saralegui and editor Billy Weber. DVD ROM Features:Website/Web Event Links and More! Extended takes:Uproarious Additional/Extended Scenes, Including Eddie Murphy "Struggling Actor" improvs and the entire premiere party sequence. Featurette:Go on the set with HBO First Look: The Making of "Showtime." Filmographies:Cast/director film highlights Interactive Menus Scene Access Theatrical Trailer
Amazon.com: Can a buddy-cop parody still qualify as a good buddy-cop movie? Showtime struggles to prove it's possible, and with a few solid laughs it almost succeeds. No movie starring Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro could be a total turkey, and their pairing--as (respectively) a brash patrol cop/wannabe actor and a seasoned detective with zero tolerance for showmanship--yields a few choice moments of slick, professional comedy. Still, most of Showtime represents a missed opportunity, squandering Rene Russo's talent as a TV producer who casts Murphy and De Niro in a buddy-cop reality show that turns them into overnight celebrities. In an effort to repeat the modest success of Shanghai Noon, director Tom Dey capitalizes on the casual chemistry of his leads (especially Murphy, who outshines his costars) until parody succumbs to routine action involving big guns and bad guys. With a sharper sense of satire, this passable entertainment could have been a comedy juggernaut. --Jeff Shannon
Unlikely Partners I would've never put Eddie Murphy and Robert DeNiro together as police partners, but somehow it worked in this comedic film. Murphy's character plays a cop who so badly wants to be an actor, and DeNiro's character plays a cop who is completely disgusted by reality shows with cops on them. He's also a no nonsense cop who will go way out of his way to make sure people are put in jail, and he's not afraid to tell elementary school kids this either. After an incident with DeNiro, the captain makes him go on a cop reality show to relieve some tension. Murphy's character is over the top, and DeNiro's character is disgruntled but funny. I felt the chemistry of the two onscreen. However, the movie started off as a quirky reality show that gets mixed up in real cop business, but it takes too long. There are scenes towards the end of the movie that last too long. The movie was cool for what it was, but I wished it would've ended soon.
Showtime, or How to Tell Jokes Poorly Alright Andy, here it is; another review - can you do it? Do you have the integrity to speak honestly about films from an un-formally educated opinion? You watch, you make your thoughts known, no pressure - no pressure at all ... alright, here it goes, you have to psych yourself up. Here it comes: three deep breaths and ... it's SHOWTIME! Wow, that hurt more than I anticipated, especially near the end when it was obvious that I wanted to say more, but repetition just seemed to be the only way out. I have to apologize to my readers for this pathetic attempt at an opening comment, but it was the only way to really bring my thoughts focused with my newest jump into early 2000s cinema with "Showtime". This film was a cliché attempt to make a buddy cop movie with two decently respected actors in Hollywood, using a script that used swiss cheese as it's co-writer, and genuine moments where money was being gobbled with special effects instead of powerful storytelling. This was a sad attempt at a film, and I have no problem saying that both Mr. Murphy and Mr. De Niro should be rather ashamed with their outing in this project. Even as you listen to the audio commentary of this film, the filmmakers (both director and producer) didn't think the audiences would understand what was happening or remember certain characters throughout this very weak plot. If the creators don't give the audience enough credit, than why I bother giving my attention to the smallest of detail with this film? Why? Because Hollywood, I paid for this movie - you're gonna get a comment whether you like it or not - and "Showtime" is one of the best ways to start.
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 *****
An Underrated Police Show in the History of police shows From DeNiro's opening as a guest Detective at a show and tell in a kids classroom, to William Shatner's cameo as William Shatner who played TJ Hooker the policeman, to Eddie Murphy's double reverse, this is a spoof that actually is real. There are a couple of times you can almost see DeNiro crack a smile at the "inside-ness" of this movie.
I've watched it now over 20 times and the experience is never quite the same as I laugh at different parts that tickle me during each watching.
DeNiro does Pottery for stress relief is a hoot.
I actually saw this on HBO. Ironic, no? My friends and I have a longstanding argument to try and name the three best Eddie Murphy movies.
And shucks, wouldn;t you know it, we can all only come up with two: 48 Hours and Trading Places. Afer that, there's a huge falloff and no one can come up with a film that gets more than a star and a half.
We finally decided that this film would merit the third spot. But only because it had Robert DeNiro in it, not because of its quality.
Anyway, I thought it was funny the way Eddie Murphy stormed out of the Oscars after he didn't win for Showgirls. It was very reminiscent of the way I leave the theatre after about 30 minutes of most of his films.
God Bless You Eddie!
Outstanding I found this movie to be simply fantastic! Personally I think I am a very very tough critic....Am shocked that so many find the film so-so...... De Niro was his same ole same ole outstanding. Eddie Murphy was sometimes a little wierd, but overall as the sidekick was excellent. Rene Russo had a few zzzzzzzzzoring sceens, but again like all other cast, really made the film enjoyable, START TO FINISH!!!!!!!!!!! I give it a solid 8 outta 10, Heck I even bought the soundtrack I like it so much....Cheers Vintage Man in California
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