ANOTHER STAKEOUT
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 1993 David N. Butterworth/The Summer Pennsylvanian
Picture the scene.
A Hollywood production office--plush, swank, business-like. Interior. Day.
Writer Jim Kouf is pitching his idea. He draws an imaginary theater marquee in the air and announces proudly, "STAKEOUT II. It's perfect. Think. It's six years later. We'll pick up the story where the first one left off. We'll get Richard back, and Emilio. And maybe even John would be willing to direct again. The thing'll write itself."
Producers Cathleen Summers and Lynn Bigelow look skeptical.
"Is it supposed to be funny?"
"Hell yes. We'll stick Rosie O'Donnell in it. Anything she *does* is funny. We'll blow up some real estate at the beginning and blow away some people at the end to satisfy the action fans. It'll be something new, yet something familiar. Audiences loved the first one. It can't fail."
The producers seem sold. "Just one thing," says Bigelow. "That title. It has to be punchier. How about... How about ANOTHER STAKEOUT?" Kouf agrees.
"Let's do it."
And do it they did.
ANOTHER STAKEOUT is the sequel to the 1987 film, STAKEOUT. Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez reprise their roles as Chris Lecce and Bill Reimers, two Seattle police detectives who once again pull the worst assignment on the duty roster. This time they are joined by Assistant District Attorney Gina Garrett (Rosie O'Donnell), and the three pose as an average American family in order to locate a key witness in a Las Vegas mob trial who has gone underground. It's a dubious domestic arrangement at best, with Lecce as Dad, Garrett as Mom, and Reimers as their grown son.
A comic battle of wills ensues as this dysfunctional trio attempts to play house whilst keeping an eye on the home of their unsuspecting neighbors.
What made the original STAKEOUT so popular was a combination of two things. First, the on-screen magnetism of its two male leads--likable characters that shared a believable chemistry. Secondly, a deft blend of comedy and real suspense contributed to making the film a surprise hit.
Unfortunately all those elements are missing from the sequel. Because he assumes we know these two characters, writer Kouf never takes the time to develop them, and they spend most of their time mugging shamelessly to the camera. There is very little tension, and the film plays more like NATIONAL LAMPOON'S SEATTLE VACATION than a comedy/drama about undercover cops.
After a promising opening scene that is truly explosive, ANOTHER STAKEOUT quickly deteriorates into childish physical humor and stilted wisecracking. Lecce battles a crook in a dumpster filled with rotting vegetation and winds up with a mackerel in his gun holster. Ha ha. After having to shave off his moustache, Reimers whines about how he has a special relationship with his facial hair. Ho ho. Garrett's stupid-looking rottweiler chases a rabbit through the pine trees and drags her after him. Hee hee. It's yuck-a-minute kind of stuff.
Dennis Farina and Marcia Strassman play the O'Hara's, the couple whose palatial family home is under surveillance. They play things pretty straight, but there is one hysterical scene in which they attempt to leave a dinner party early. Too bad it's the *only* genuinely funny scene in the film. Cathy Moriarty, who looks strikingly like Faye Dunaway in this picture, plays Lu Delano, the key witness in question.
The film seems to have had its share of production problems. Madeleine Stowe, who played the object of Richard Dreyfuss' desire in the original film, has a fairly substantial part as Maria, but her appearance is uncredited. Then there's a scene with another neighbor, Barbara Burnside (played by Sharon Maughan), involving a baseball and a broken window that ends abruptly. Her son Ronnie, presumably the culprit (and a role attributed to Taylor Estevez in the closing credits), never appears in the finished film.
ANOTHER STAKEOUT is director John Badham's first sequel, and he should have left well enough alone.
Badham Badham's Butterworth Cathleen Dunaway Estevez Faye Followup Hee Kouf Lecce Lu Maltin Maughan Mom Newsgroups O'Hara's Reimers Rosie Rottweiler STAKEOUT Stowe Strassman a1.mscf.upenn.edu butterworth cbnewsj.att.com dumpster ecl hee r.a.m.r rec.arts.movies rec.arts.movies.reviews thing'll whilst .
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