THE MOD SQUAD A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): *
Of the possible old television series to remake, "The Mod Squad" has to be one of the least promising. Although it was one of my favorites from back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, its charm was highly tied to the era. Rather than update the series, Scott Silver's THE MOD SQUAD is merely a recast version. With less material than in one of the old episodes, the feature film script by Stephen T. Kay and Silver is so thin it feels like an executive summary that you might present to potential financial film backers.
Figuring that today's generation not only hasn't seen the series, they don't even know what "mod" means, the introductory credits feature its dictionary entry. Perhaps the confusing and convoluted storyline would have been helped by explanatory subtitles, but, since you're unlikely to care, it doesn't really matter. Suffice it to say that the plot involves drugs, prostitution and crooked officers with 3 young, undercover cops, Julie, Pete and Linc, as the heroes of the story.
The best of the new team of crime fighters is Claire Danes as the attractive blonde, Julie. Her intelligence enlivens a role that's little better than a stick figure. None of the characters have any depth, and the director doesn't come up with a single fresh scene in the entire movie.
Giovanni Ribisi plays Pete as only a few IQ points brighter that the mentally-challenged character he played in THE OTHER SISTER. Weakest of all is Omar Epps as Linc, who was the best character in the old show. Epps's inert acting makes his character less than two-dimensional.
The time period for the movie is relatively indeterminate as the cars and sets are a mixture of stuff from the 1970s and the 1990s. Cinematographer Ellen Kuras creates an exceedingly ugly picture, whose dark, grainy images make it look like it was filmed on cheap videotape and then later transferred to film stock. The film's jarring music by B.C. Smith is full of bongo drums and a jazz beat in the style, perhaps, of the original, but it feels heavily dated and awkward today.
Yes, Julie does get to say her signature "Right on!" line a few times, and Linc is allowed one "Solid," but that's about as close as this remake ever gets to the genuine article. The original may not have been worth preserving for the ages, but it did have some class and style, qualities notably absence from this lame and lifeless movie.
THE MOD SQUAD runs 1:34. It is rated R for profanity, violence and sex and would be acceptable for teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: www.InternetReviews.com
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