Downtown

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12/14/2014 Predictable but affable fish-out-of-water/buddy-cop comedy. Anthony Edwards is a wide-eyed cop from the 'burbs who gets sent "Downtown." Forest Whitaker is his new partner who shows him the ropes of the downtown streets. What the film lacks in originality, it makes up for with thanks to a decent cast, but in particular Whitaker. Still, when the film tries to take a serious turn, it really falls apart. Richard Benjamin directed this film and I'd always wanted to see something come out of him as good as "My Favorite Year" though after looking at most of Benjamin's filmography ("My Stepmother is an Alien" or "City Heat") I'm pretty sure "My Favorite Year" owes most of it's success to the script and cast rather than to Benjamin. "Downtown" also features Penelope Ann, Joe Pantoliano, Art Evans and Glenn Plummer, who for a short while seems to appear in everything from "Showgirls" to "Strange Days." I will give this film points for doing a wood chipper scene six years before "Fargo" although the Coen Brothers did it better. See more 09/01/2014 To be succinct, I like this movie. Though it is a bit unorthodox and simultaneously formulaic, Whitaker and Edwards have great chemistry. There's sufficient enough humor and mystery to keep you interested and enough action to keep it from lulling. See more 05/20/2014 This was a very impressive cop buddy action movie. It takes place in the slums of Philly and revolves around a patrolman who gets tossed up to the city's worst precinct after a flub when pulling over a rich asshole. He's matched up with a loose cannon for a partner. It's Lethal Weapon material for sure except that's not much of a criticism since the movie was actually entertaining. If cheesy, but entertaining with a rather good performance by Whitaker and from Joe Pantoliano who plays a menacing bald assistant to the villain of the movie. His death scene by way of a wood chipper is worth checking out the movie. See more 01/02/2011 Pretty good buddy cop action film. I liked the whole premise of an suburban cop being transferred to the baddest part of the city, "Downtown". And the demise of Joe Pantoliano`s character was beyond hilarious. See more 01/03/2010 I would never have believed, the unlikely duo of Anthony Edwards (Revenge of the Nerds) and Forrest Whitaker (Bloodsport/Street Kings), would have worked. Along with an excellent supporting cast, comprised of some framiliar faces, Downtown, was able to entertain me from start to finish. See more 12/29/2009 Adding yet another notch to the always engaging buddy cop subgenre of films, Downtown offers the unique concept of a books smart, suburban Philadelphia cop (Anthony Edwards) who is unfairly reassigned after busting a wealthy businessman (The Thing's David Clennon) with connections to the dangerous inner city precinct where he reluctantly befriends hardened black cop Forest Whitaker. The two butt heads at first understandably and even more so when they plunge into a murder case involving the death of Edwards former suburban partner, his killer and lunatic Joe Pantoliano, and Clennon, who turns out to be shady after all. Taking somewhat of a Lethal Weapon approach, the film surprisingly delivers a lot of violence and death for a buddy cop film, but still manages to throw in plenty of comically-racist jokes and jabs on both ends, though whites tend to get the most in this. Edwards and Whitaker are a good mix together, as well as the rest of the cast, save for Penelope Ann Miller (as Edwards' wife) who is pretty much in a throw-away role. Pantoliano makes for a great, creepy villain, whose comeuppance is a bit wacky but definitely a highlight of this film's violence. Decent direction from Richard Benjamin (My Stepmother is an Alien, The Money Pit). The movie was made in 1990, but still maintains that 80's feel to it. Overall, not the greatest of buddy cop films, but worth a watch if you are a fan of those types. Good stuff. See more Read all reviews

Downtown

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