A serial killer is back in Pittsburgh to torment the former homicide detective who was on his trail years before. Tom Hardy, who has been relegated to water-way duty, along with new partner Jo Christman, navigate the three rivers looking for clues and discovering bodies. This time the victims are women Tom knows, he must find the killer to prove his innocence. Tom Hardy (Bruce Willis) is a maverick cop in pursuit of a sadistic serial killer. Demoted to river patrol after suggesting to the press the killer may be a police officer, he initiates an unauthorized investigation with his new partner (Sarah Jessica Parker). A killer is on the loose in Pittsburgh. Nicknamed Little Red Hiding Hood, the killer kidnaps and murders women before dumping their bodies. Police Officers Vincent and Tom Hardy are father and son and on their way to a policeman's' ball (despite Tom being considered a 'rat' within the precinct) when the call comes in that the killer has been located. A chase ensues that ends with the killer escaping and Vincent dead. When Tom accuses the police department of brushing over the investigation by arresting a man who Tom believes is innocent and, when he puts forward his theory that the killer is a cop, he is busted down to River Patrol as punishment. Years later bodies start showing up in the river, Tom starts to investigate, adamant that the killer is still out there and is mocking him.<br/><br/>Before Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys showed that he could act and Die Hard 3 also returned his box office clout, Bruce Willis seemed to be headed to a ruined career. He was making pretty poor films and he made a run of films between 1991-94 that, frankly, were bad. Colour of Money, Last Boy Scout, Hudson Hawk and Bonfire Of The Vanities were pretty poor and whatever value they may have had was ruled out by the bad business they did at the box office. Here is one of his films that would barely be considered for a low budget video thriller were it not for Willis being in the cast. The plot is really thin and far from special. It opens up with an enjoyable car chase but after that it gets poor and stays that way. The film wanders for a bit while introducing Willis' new partner (a woman he hates her but I wonder if they'll hit it off at any point?!) but then gets down to the business of the killer. It isn't really ever exciting or gripping and the final twist is laughably bad it's like they had a contest to come up with the stupidest twist they could, although, having said that, it is also depressingly obvious after 15 minutes of the film if you have seen some of this genre.<br/><br/>The cast are not terrible, just stuck with bad material. Willis is sleeping walking which is why he started making such average films - even Die Hard 2 suffered from his laziness. Here he shows everything that is bad about him as an actor, he is lazy, uncharismatic and just lacking in any of the unique touch and wit that made me fall in love with him in the original Die Hard. However the support cast are actually quite good on the whole and make the film feel better than it is simply due to the number of faces on screen. Parker is pretty poor but the rest do OK because they aren't stuck with a cr*p love-interest role. Farina is fun, Sizemore has little to do but is a familiar face. Mahoney has a very small role but is worth it and it's cool to see Braugher, Busfield and James even if Pastorelli is just laughably stupid!<br/><br/>Overall this is a video thriller with a poor plot, awful twist and no real tension or excitement despite the promise posed by the opening car chase. The only thing that makes it stand out from those is the fact that it fluked a handful of big names in the cast however, their presence alone cannot lift the material off the bottom shelf of your video store or the midnight slot on your cable station where it rightly deserves to be. Actually watched this on a bus ride home. Found myself entertained for once! Bruce Willis plays good cop Tom Hardy, who's convinced the police killed his dad and framed some poor sap. He opens his big mouth too often and they demote him to river duty! Tom is still on the job and now he's partnered with sexy diver Jo (Sarah Jessica Parker). They keep finding dead women and Tom realizes the killer is toying with him!<br/><br/>Tom and Jo hook up, and I actually found their romance quite charming, has SJP ever been bad in anything? She's a really good actress and looks great in this, and try to actually solve the murders, which angers his uncle, played by the underrated Dennis Farina. Even the chief, a ogre of a cop played by the terrific late character actor Brion James, just wants Tom to stay quiet. His cousin Jimmy, I couldn't believe that was Robert Pastorelli, the guy from "Murphy Brown" he was totally dissolved into the part, just seems like a wise-ass, but watch him.<br/><br/>The film is well paced and nicely shot, I liked that the Ohio river seemed smelly like in real life. Willis actually bothers to act here, though I understand he didn't like the film, and you won't see the killer coming. <br/><br/>Striking Distance is a good action flick, with an excellent cast. Its rated "R" for profanity and violence.
Vannycoun replied
295 weeks ago