A bust, but not arresting

"The Mod Squad"
Overall Rating: *½


Tonight, I deal with Hollywood cliche #552: the old TV show made into a new movie. A couple of months ago, I reviewed "My Favorite Martian." I gave it a good review because it was almost start-to-finish laughs, but the truth is that, artistically speaking, it probably wasn't a very good movie. "The Mod Squad" isn't an artistically good movie either--and it's not even funny.

In "The Mod Squad," we see the exploits of Julie, Linc, and Pete (Claire Danes, Omar Epps, Giovanni Ribisi respectively). They are messed-up kids: except possibly for Linc, all are recovering drug addicts, and all three are convicted felons. Their last chance now is to work on the Mod Squad: semi-cops. They are cops in that they're working for the police--the "logic" being that they have access to places where real vice cops couldn't go. Unlike regular cops, however, they don't have badges or guns, and if they mess up, they go back to jail.

Like its young protagonists, "The Mod Squad" is a failure. The filmmakers tried for a dark look and feel: they got a large number of scenes that are too dim to see. They tried for a cool soundtrack: they got loud rock and rap music that lends nothing. They tried for wit with lines such as "Why does she always get to be the prostitute?" (uttered by Pete); but they get stupidity.

The biggest failure of "The Mod Squad" is the plot. If you can keep the honest cops straight from the crooked cops, and then sort out the crooked cops from the rest of the drug dealers, I congratulate you; this was not an easy task, and I was not up to it. Running a mere 95 minutes, they could have taken the time to clear up some of the confusing points, but it doesn't really matter, because the premise doesn't strain credibility--it lacks any to begin with. When you add this implausible premise and confusing presentation to a cliché plot of "good cops going after bad cops and not get framed for their misdeeds," you have a screenplay that probably would have best suited the trash collectors.

The one bright spot in the movie is Claire Danes. Ms. Danes, who did a good job with the otherwise decent but lackluster adaptation of "Les Miserables," and a great job opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in "Romeo and Juliet," proves herself a good actress here. She even manages to make her character--the heroine, Julie Barnes--somewhat likeable, despite Julie's tendency to become violent upon any provocation. Unfortunately, she could have all the talent in the world, and it still wouldn't be enough to breathe life into her character. Worse, while her character is shallow, Pete and Linc are not only shallow characters, but not as bright as Julie; I'm not really sure whether Claire Danes upstaged them, or the young actors in those roles were just not able to work with what little the screenwriters gave them.

If at this point, you're thinking of subjecting children to this movie, my advice would be not to. There is limited nudity and significant violence (not enough to appeal to salacious tastes, but too much graphic content for kids). Add in constant references to drugs and prostitution, and the fact every other line has some strong language, and it deserves its R rating.

There's not much to say in favor of "The Mod Squad." It's not really spectacularly bad--but it's bad. In the end, my advice would be to call the cops on this one--we have a felony case of failing to impersonate a police movie.

Title: "The Mod Squad"
Release date: March 28, 1999

MPAA rating: R
Overall rating: *½

Aprox. run time: 95 min.
Director: Scott Silver
Writers: Stephen T. Kay, Scott Silver, Kate Lanier
Stars: Claire Danes, Omar Epps, Giovanni Ribisi

Original URL: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Mansion/7045/ModSquad.htm
Added to blog site: 7/30/09