LETHAL WEAPON 3
A film review by Frank Maloney
Copyright 1992 Frank Maloney
LETHAL WEAPON 3 is a film directed by Richard Donner, written by Jeffrey Boam. It stars Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Rene Russo, Joe Pesci, and Stuart Wilson. Rated R, for violence and profanity.
LETHAL WEAPON 3 is the latest installment in the highly profitable series that teams Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as cops, buddies, and a union of opposites. The formula has been milked again in a cynical, mechanistic, and pointless way that is at the same time the very epitome of the art of the Hollywood movie. The highest levels of professionalism here are thrown away again and again in the pursuit of a mindless entertainment. It succeeds in doing exactly what it sets out to do; millions will flock to see it and walk out satisfied and replete. It is my unhappy fate to be no longer able to be cajoled by this particular machine. I have enjoyed the earlier installments, although the second less so than the original; I wanted to enjoy this one, but for the most part I found myself uninvolved and distantly removed from the fast-paced action, the mayhem, the ludicrous story, the male bonding, certainly from the low-level homophobic jokes, from the love stories (man meets dog, man meets sergeant), the multiple and violent--but poetically justifiable--deaths, the tightly edited fights and shoot-outs. It was all so perfunctory, so antiseptic, so unhuman.
Of course, one has to admire the many skills so willingly exercised in pursuit of ticket sales; these are men and women who know exactly what they want and how to get it. They are whores, but they are handsomely paid whores.
For one example, take the presence of Joe Pesci in this movie. Pesci's here because he was the best thing about LETHAL WEAPON 2. He has nothing to do with the story; in fact, the script expends what little cleverness it possesses in finding ways to get Pesci out of the way. His is not a character, it's a marketing ploy (as Jeff Shannon remarked in the Seattle Times). He's about as functional as the opening scene's exploding (imploding?) building; we've been seeing that in trailers for months, it links to the exploding toilet opener in the earlier installment; it makes no sense and has nothing to do with anything that follows, but as a marketing device it is so successful that it is reprised after the credits with another one.
For another example, the stars cannot help but impress with their talent. Mel Gibson as Riggs is as sexy and funny as ever he was. He knows how to have fun and how to share the fun with us, whether that fun is kidding Murtaugh his partner, risking his life in another grandstand play, or seducing a guard dog or another (female) cop. He does lose me, a little, when he stops having his fun and tries to be honest, tender, and caring; he has a scene with Murtaugh that is faintly embarrassing for its paint-by-numbers approach to emotional honesty, as well as its bottled-in-bond approach to men loving men.
Gibson has a scene with Rene Russo in which these two, who begin as adversaries-by-default--one of the hoarier cliches in cop movies--are one-upping each other in the display of battle scars. Never mind that this scene was played out with more stripping and less sex in MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON between Patrick Bergin as Sir Richard Burton and Bernard Hill as Dr. Livingstone. It is funny and sexy here, and fans of underwear ads get a good peep at Gibson. Russo is, in fact, the freshest, most interesting element in this movie. She's tough and brutal; naturally, Riggs is going to be attracted to her. They have a pretty good scene in a men's room, too. If there's a LETHAL WEAPON 4 (and who is so bold as to rule that out?), I look to Russo to get more air time, to be finessed into a new partnership with Riggs.
Mel's scene with the killer dog is almost as funny a seduction, by the way, as his scene with Russo. If not quite as believable.
Danny Glover as Murtaugh presents a problem to a disgruntled reviewer. Glover has presence, there's no mistaking it. He lends dignity and weight to even the fluffiest role merely by taking it. Murtaugh is not a challenging characterization for Danny Glover, but he manages to make the character more impressive than he ought to be. The role is as mechanical as Gibson's. The bonding scene is just as phony from Murtaugh's side. But Glover can kid us into accepting fluff for substance and that is a major skill. He pushes buttons, Murtaugh's and ours.
The entire movie is a matter of very sharp people pushing buttons. I keep thinking of the scene in THE PLAYER about getting rid of the writers. Just plug in the formulas. It's all the same, ain't it? The point is selling tickets, right? LETHAL WEAPON 3 is a monster of efficiency; most of the people who see it will love it; ticket sales will exceed the GNPs of many third-world countries; everyone is happy. Forget that everyone in the movie is prostituting him or herself. Forget that everyone in the audience is the john. The pace is everything; keep up the pace and we will never have to think about any of this.
I am really sorry to go on like this. But it is so disheartening to see the waste, the cynicism of turning intelligence and talent into machinery. And for those of you who will write "Get a life. This is just a movie." You are right, of course. I should just plug myself into my slot and surrender to the wonder of it all. I regret that I cannot do that any more.
If you're of a mind to, you will enjoy LETHAL WEAPON 3. As Euell Gibbons used to say when he prostituted himself for a cereal commercial: "Many parts are edible." I won't recommend it, however; I won't need to. Some of you will not be able to stay away, and why should you?
-- Frank Richard Aloysius Jude Maloney .
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