Okay, here's the deal. A bunch of friends and I were sitting around this weekend, sipping on assorted distilled spirits and fishing off Bobby Drinkmeyer's houseboat up on Lake Birchwell. Of course, the subject of movies came up, and they all wanted to know what I thought about this and that movie, what was coming up that I was looking forward to, the usual stuff. I told them I was geared up for Saving Private Ryan, that I still stand by my plan to picket the theatre if they don't start mopping the floors more often, and that there's no way on Earth that anyone is ever gonna make me believe that Jesse "The Body" Ventura was not the model for the character of Eddie Murphy's brother in The Nutty Professor.
Once that was history, old Bobby himself posed a right thoughtful lob, much to the surprise of everyone on the boat. "Doc," he said, "if you could hang out with some movie characters, which ones would you hang out with?" (Believe me, this is extreme philosophy for Bobby Drinkmeyer. His conversations rarely get past Dodge trucks and flapjacks.)
While the others of this intrepid band of fisherman drunkenly declared themselves good escorts for the likes of Sandra Bullock and Halle Berry, I let my mind drift out a bit. I'd love to pass one night in Rick's Cafe in Casablanca, playing chess, sipping brandy, and watching him knock language with Peter Lorre. If there was some guarantee of survival, I'd like to have been the fourth on the boat in Jaws, listening to Quint tell that chilling story about the Indianapolis. I would've loved to ride a white horse with Indiana Jones, chasing Nazis and the Ark of the Covenant. Put me on the back row in the courtroom while Atticus Finch defended Tom Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird. And, yes, thank you, I would've been quite the dance partner for Mrs. Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction. Skip the overdose, if you don't mind.
But, for out-and-out fun, sign me up to hang out with Detectives Riggs and Murtaugh from the Lethal Weapon series. They get shot at, beat up, car wrecked, toilets explode around their backsides, and still look like they are having the time of their lives. And, finally, we get to ride along with the boys once again with the latest sequel to the story, Lethal Weapon 4. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover are back, and while it'll never capture the spirit of that original, it's like opening the door to old friends and giving them the run of the roost.
This time out, the boys find themselves mixed up with the Chinese Mafia, or,at least the L.A. branch office. They're importing illegal immigrants to work, basically as slaves, to pay off their passage to the Land of Opportunity. But, other stories abound. Rene Russo, introduced as Riggs' new love interest in LW 3, is still here, but -- whoops!-- she's "with child," and Riggs is facing the Big Settle Down. And, of course, Joe Pesci returns as Leo Getz, spouting off lines like a stuttering machine gun. If you're looking for more of a plot than that, you're in the wrong movie.
Richard Donner, who's directed all four of these bad boys, knows the formula that works, and he sticks to it like a textbook. And, truthfully, why bother with success? He hit a winner off the bat with the pairing of Gibson and Glover, and the dynamic between the young crazy cop and the older flustered cop is as old as the hills. Glover and Gibson made these roles better, though. Lesser actors would just look the part, but these two work so well together, it's easy to believe they're a well-seasoned team. Riggs is the wild child, raving and running in a hundred different directions. Murtaugh is the older brother, the voice of reason that, like always, gets pulled into something he wants no part of.
The added measure of Pesci was a funny plus, and, here, it's good to see him in something that doesn't smell like rotten cabbage ladled with boiled slop. Next came Russo, playing a lady cop who was every bit as wild as Riggs, and could survive, unlike his other women. She was a nice addition, but she's basically stage decoration in this story, except for her new influence on Riggs' attitude. The neophyte in this movie is Chris Rock, a funny stand-up comedian, which is sometimes a deadly thing in the transition to acting. Here, he's a cop, and, while his acting is a mite wooden at times, he makes up for it when he gets to do his thing, which is be angry and outraged.
Oh! Lest I forget, we need to add a bad guy here. And, my heavens, what a good bad guy he is. Hong Kong action star Jet Li is a newcomer to Hollywood, but don't think for a minute he's going to fade back into the Far East anytime soon. He is positively hypnotic to watch, like some silent, regal lion, yet suddenly, he can just go blurry with the speed of his hands and spinning kicks. If you can imagine Jackie Chan without the "good guy" persona, you're close to Jet Li. I would love to see the two of them get mixed in a John Woo movie. The mind boggles.
Look, I'm not gonna lie to you. The whole Chinese Mafia plotline straddles a thin line between effective and offensive. Gibson throws out a ton of racist comments toward the Asian population; I cannot imagine why there haven't been protests yet. There's an attempt to balance this out with Murtaugh's "adoption" of one of the stranded immigrant families, but the racial slurs get VERY tiresome after a while. There are some holes in the plot, and, like always, you have to check the reality bags at the front counter as you enter the theater.
But all that aside, these movies are like a pair of old slippers. Slip 'em on and everything's comfy. You're not going to be disappointed if you go in knowing that the entire cast and the audience are fully aware that this is a movie, a wild ride of a movie where everyone can have some fun. While Armageddon waves the flag in our face a hundred times, and The Truman Show runs its quest for life versus art, Lethal Weapon 4 has no lofty ambition other than to entertain. Some wise cracks, some shootouts, some fires, more wise cracks, and the bad guys get it in the end. It may not be some feast for the eyes and soul, but sometimes, a good burger and onion rings sits quite nicely on the ol' belly.
Go see Lethal Weapon 4. Hang out with Riggs and Murtaugh for 125 minutes. It's like a trip to an amusement park you've been to before. You know all the rides, where they dip and twist and turn, but, danged if you still don't like 'em. Lower the bar, lift those hands, and ride it 'til it ends.
Image copyright Warner Bros.
|
in for observation