STRIKING DISTANCE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Rating (Linear 0 to 10): 3.3
Date Released: 9/17/93 Running Length: 1:46 Rated: R (Violence, language, mature themes, sexual situations)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Farina, Tom Sizemore, Robert Pastorelli Director: Rowdy Herrington Producers: Arnon Milchan, Hunt Lowry, and Tony Thomopoulos Screenplay: Rowdy Herrington and Martin Kaplan Music: Brad Fiedel Released by Columbia Pictures
A guy with a name like Rowdy Herrington had better make a more impressive film than this if he doesn't want his name to get confused with that of a professional wrestler.
Tom Hardy (Bruce Willis) is a cop on Pittsburgh's water rescue squad whose discovery of bodies floating down the river causes him to revisit an ugly and tragic past. Two years ago, he lost his detective's shield when he claimed that the murder of his father, Police Chief Hardy (John Mahoney), was committed by a cop. No one believed him, and the force as a whole labelled him a turncoat. Now Tom has a new partner, Jo Christman (Sarah Jessica Parker), who accepts that Hardy's story may be more than a fantasy, and together the two begin an illegal investigation of a new series of murders, which Tom believes are inextricably linked to the chain of events which resulted in his father's death and his own disgrace.
Disappointment abounds for anyone expecting DIE HARD on water. The only similarity is actor Bruce Willis, but this film is sadly lacking both the slick direction of the DIE HARD movies and the entertaining script. For STRIKING DISTANCE, we get a routine cop story, complete with far too many chases, moments that stretch the viewer's credulity past the breaking point, and few legitimate surprises. The action is depressingly routine, and Bruce Willis has only one or two opportunities for wise-cracking, which is clearly one of his fortes.
Actually, for the first half of the movie, the plot doesn't seem all that bad. It's full of cliches, but that's to be expected, and it contains far too many stock situations, but that shouldn't surprise anyone either. However, any shred of competence shown by the early script unravels as the movie zips along to its ridiculous conclusion. The revelation of the killer is an absolute joke (and I don't mean a funny one). I didn't figure out the identity early, but I would have had I not given the writing more credit than it deserves. You see, I was hoping things might turn out to make (gasp!) sense.
Perhaps someone could tell me why Sarah Jessica Parker, who really isn't a bad actress, would take this thankless role (the standard answer to this question is "money"). This is a prototypical "token female." Not only is Jo totally uninteresting, but she's stupid. It's sad to see anyone in a part this poor, but even more distressing when the performer isn't some no-name actress in her first major motion picture. Did Ms. Parker actually think STRIKING DISTANCE would advance her career?
Bruce Willis, who has shown moments of undeniable ability (IN COUNTRY, while not a great film, was a tour de force for the actor), manages to be little better than annoying in STRIKING DISTANCE. Some of it surely has to do with his character: a morose, self-centered man with a drinking problem. (Why do these movies always have to have alcoholic heroes?) There are a couple of solid scenes where Willis stays within himself, but those are few and far between.
Now, as for the relationship between Jo and Tom, I didn't buy it for a moment. Not only does it start far too quickly, and with too flimsy of a premise given the circumstances, but it generates neither heat nor romantic tension. It's not that the two don't have chemistry--given an opportunity, they might have--but the movie doesn't allow anything to develop. A couple of bed scenes is about the extent of things as far as we're concerned.
The opening car chase is enjoyable, even if parts of it are close to self-parody (I was reminded of LAST ACTION HERO). After that, however, everything settles into the usual action film routine. There are about two more chases than necessary--on land and in water. My philosophy about chases is that they should be avoided unless the director has something new to show off. Needless to say, STRIKING DISTANCE breaks that rule. No one could accuse Herrington of anything close to originality. He goes strictly by-the-book, churning out a picture that is pure formula, with a generous does of idiocy thrown in.
There are a lot of other bad things I could talk about--the overblown score, the silly portrayal of the police, the bad dialogue, the poor lighting in almost every scene--but I think it's pretty clear how few are the virtues of STRIKING DISTANCE. In fact, one of the positive points is that the movie is too loud and noisy to fall asleep during, which is surely what most people would do if their attention was based on story and character.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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