No Code of Conduct (1999)

hyped garbage

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Blistering performances.

For some reason, it took a grand total of FIVE screenwriters to make the script for this movie. But despite all these people working on the story, apparently none of them were able to make it interesting. It's a real slow-moving exercise; it feels like a script for a weekly television show stretched out to twice the length. And the various plot turns also come straight out of a clichéd and predictable television police show. But the script is just one of the problems with the movie. The two Sheens and Mark Dacascos are not used well - the Sheens can't seem to generate any chemistry in their scenes despite their real life relationship, and Dacascos doesn't get to use his real life martial art skills. Instead, the action is confined to shoot-out and car chases, which might have been okay had they been directed and edited in a professional manner, but they're not. In fact, they are surprisingly incompetently constructed. (Well, except for the exploding building at the climax - I admit that looked pretty cool.) And the whole package is directed by Bret Michaels in a way that not only makes everything look real cheap, also strangely hides anything that would show without doubt that the movie was actually shot in Arizona. In the end, the movie is a real disappointment from Millennium Films, who usually does a lot better than this.

SPOILERS (maybe)It may have sounded like an interesting idea at the time to pair up 'The Two Sheen's', but let's face it, the result is not really worth the effort. Believe it or not, the two of them actually look very uncomfortable together and are very mismatched.As you'd expect, the film churns out flipped over cars, exploding buildings, lesbian Chinese-American psycho's etc. etc., but what cannot be excused is the 'man not spending enough time with his family' routine (hasn't that been done before somewhere?!!).The highlight of the film for me was probably the sound effect of the stomach stabbing near the beginning - very impressive and dramatically OTT. Good stuff. Those 'whoosh' cuts on the other hand...But as ever with action films, one important question arises from the experience, and here it is: why do police officers insist on taking their own polished cars out on dangerous police work when they know they're gonna be rained with bullets?

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsThe age old aidage of never trust a book by it's cover is definitely the case with No Code of Conduct,a ploddingly formulaic DTV actioner with misleading pretensions of being anything but.The plot has a good looking,well groomed Charlie Sheen as cop Jake Peterson who,along with his father Bill (Martin Sheen) and partner Paul DeLucca (Mark Dacascoes) becomes embroiled in a plot to take down some drug dealers.I had the DVD of the film lying around my house for ages and put it at the back with all the other stuff I have to watch.But after a while,the front and back cover,featuring all manner of explosions,gunfire and well suited action characters,not to mention an exhilarating plotline,began to wet my appetite like the prospect of a double quarter pounder meal at McDonalds.Sure,it was an obviously straight to video effort,and as such probably had the production values to match,but,all the same...Oh,how I was to be disappointed.The 'thrilling' action sequences are practically non-existent and what little action there is fails to generate any excitement whatsoever.The story is riddled with buddy-buddy cop thriller cliches and Sheen's character is promoted as the standard 'cop-who-doesn't-play-by-the-rules' hero,but he does little throughout to make us think he is a renegade in any way or that he has any sort of problem with authority.**

I was impressed that director Michaels cast against the grain. Really impressed with the work of habitually nice guys Joe Lando (Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman) and Ron Masak (murder, She Wrote)as the baddies...Masak's low key approach to the role was refreshing and menacing. Also liked the work of Newcomer Tina Nguyen. Charlie Sheen should watch his Dad more and see what good acting is...Kudos for Brett Michaels.