Dragnet (1987)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Best movie ever!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

While their guns may not be man d and their police academy days long over, the similarities go way beyond the Los Angeles setting. There must be parallels of L.A. out there somewhere to explain the different heads of the various L.A.P.D. heads, in this case the breathy Elizabeth Ashley who has her hands full with detectives Dan Ackroyd and Tom Hanks. Ackroyd plays the nephew of the late Sgt. Joe Friday as evidenced by a picture of Jack Webb on his desk while his boss is none other than Harry Morgan, repeating his role from the second T.V. version. The case is a lot more complex, almost to the point of absurdity, and while there are laughs there, they aren't in regards to the Indiana Jones style rip-off plot.While the laughs are there, the plot takes some eye-rolling to tolerate. Then, there's that cast supporting Ackroyd, Hanks and Morgan: in addition to Ashley, there's Dabney Coleman as a Hugh Hefner like girlie magazine owner, Alexandra Paul as the virginal damsel in distress, and Christopher Plummer as numero uno villain, a la Ricardo Montalban and Robert Goulet in the first two "Naked Gun" movies. "You've got balls as big as church bells", Coleman tells Plummer in a lisping southern accent, just an example of the Shakespearean dialog. Plummer is forced to speak in diabolical tones that remind me of Dr. Smith from "Lost in Space" while Ashley is forced to dress like a drag queen funeral crasher while coming off as the Leona Helmsley of law enforcement.Ackroyd is amusing with his Jack Webb impression while Hanks seems to be playing a white version of Eddie Murphy's "Beverly Hills Cop". The two leads briefly loose the film to the hysterically funny Kathleen Freeman who will have you in hysterics as a foul mouthed witness. Veteran soap and stage actress Lenka Peterson, as Ackroyd's grandmother, is simply beautiful in her brief appearance, reminding me of Gloria Stuart ("Titanic"). Sometimes this seems to struggle for real laughs, resorting to typical '80s T&A to get word of mouth going. Having seen this in its theatrical run, I recall that I found it somewhat tedious even then, the immaturity level even mind-boggling to me at 24 years old. If this was a representation of what real L.A. police were like, that city would have been in ashes after the riots.

Sgt. Joe Friday (Aykroyd) is back in action and this time he's after more than just to solve a crime - he wants "just the laughs, ma'am". This time Sgt. Friday has a partner that is just as funny as he is Det. Pep Streebek (Hanks).Dragnet has a great story and quite a few great jokes in it. This movie is not a spoof of the original TV series Dragnet, instead it is a movie based on the TV show but with the added element of good comedy.If you enjoyed the movie Dragnet then you might like other crazy cops (or spies) type of films such as "Spies Like Us", "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", "Police Academy" "Turner and Hooch" or "The Naked Gun".9/10

Based on the television crime drama of the same name starring Jack Webb, 'Dragnet' is a highly energetic film that works entirely! A Superb Entertainer!'Dragnet' Synopsis: The equally-straight-laced and "by the book" nephew of Joe Friday must work with his more laid-back partner to solve a mystery.'Dragnet' works because the humor & the performances, work big time. The on-screen chemistry between its leading-men is outstanding, while their journey as one, entertains enormously. Its consistently funny & engaging.Dan Aykroyd, Alan Zweibel & Tom Mankiewicz's Screenplay is spot-on. Mankiewicz's Direction is good. Cinematography, Editing & Art Design, are super.Performance-Wise: Dan Aykroyd & Tom Hanks are impeccable. Their on-screen chemistry is outstanding & their performances, are pitch-perfect. Christopher Plummer is another topper. He's excellent as the villain. Others lend great support. On the whole, 'Dragnet' is a memorable buddy-cop adventure!

I thought most of the good laughs were in the first 20 minutes, then the film bogged down by chases (in and out of cars) that were too long and our "heroes" getting in too much trouble with their bosses when they really hadn't been fouling things up.I loved the Dragnet TV series of the 60s I grew up with--except for the episodes that were too preachy and didn't have enough detective work. I have seen many episodes of the 50s Dragnet and these were like the good ones from the 60s.To base a comedy movie on the characters from the series seems like a good idea. Tom Hanks did a good job with his character. Dan Ackroyd certainly nailed down the Joe Friday character in a comical way. It was fun to see Harry Morgan reprising his role from the series, now with a promotion. It was too bad he wasn't given much to do except be a cranky boss.The stereotype character of the religious leader being the bad guy was hackneyed before this film was made. If Martians learned our language and then sent for all U.S. films made between 1975 and today, they would be dead certain that almost anyone addressed as "father, reverend, etc." is an evil person, or an absolute idiot, because that is the way they are almost always portrayed in almost all films during these years, except when their role is minuscule.Here, there's a crooked politician working with the evil minister. Why stop with one stereotype when you can exploit two or more? I thought the film had some good laugh lines, particularly near the beginning. If they had the two cops interviewing more regular people and criminals, which is what the original series primarily featured, it could have been a much better movie.Where it went downhill was all the pointless "action" scenes that lacked true drama because we knew they weren't going to get killed. These scenes seemed to last forever, too.It's a decent movie with more laughs than lots of comedies, but it sure could have been so much better.