Extras:
HBO First Look, audio commentary, additional/extended scenes,
premiere party footage, Eddie Murphy Improvs, theatrical trailer.
Director:
Tom Dey
Screenplay:
Alfred Gouch, Miles Millar and Keith Sharon
Cast:
Mitch: Robert DeNiro
Trey: Eddie Murphy
Chase: Rene Russo
ReRun: T.J. Cross
Lazy Boy: Mos Def
Vargas: Pedro Damian
William Shatner: Himself
Whoa, stop the presses, it's a new genre never before seen!
Buddy cop movies! Wow, imagine the possibilities, we could get movies called
Rush Hour,
Lethal Weapon, and Shanghai Noon. But don't forget to have one
with Eddie Murphy and Robert DeNiro! Sorry, I had to do that because of
my sarcastic tendency. All sarcasm aside, Showtime is not nearly as bad
as I just led on. True, it does have a lot of cliches but underneath the
run of the mill genre you'll find a marginally enjoyable movie.
Seriously, I'm not being sarcastic.
Showtime tells the story of a serious cop named Mitch (Robert DeNiro)
and another cop just there to make it funny, Trey (Eddie Murphy). Mitch
is on the case of a weapons smuggiling ring one night when Trey busts in
thinking Mitch is a part of the ring. As Mitch is taking down the perp, a
cameraman rams the camera in his face and he shoots it. The next day,
the people behind the camera view the scene and determine that Mitch
could be the next hit to save their ailing station. So an executive
named Chase (Rene Russo) sets up the reality show (how many reality
shows are there now?) and contacts Mitch. Of course, Mitch doesn't want
to do it but the studio is threatening to pin a lawsuit on them for the
whole camera incident, so he's obligated. Trey,
an aspiring actor, stages a fight and wins the attention of Chase. Trey
then becomes the trademark funny partner for Mitch. From that course on,
the two cope with the success of the show, Trey doing the best, and take
acting tips from William Shatner, among other things.
Showtime failed to garner any huge box office success. It started here
in the US on March 15, 2002, going up against Ice Age and
Resident Evil,
I chose the latter over it as did many people as Showtime ranked at 3
just behind RE at 2 and Ice Age at 1. I don't really see why it didn't
do great, maybe it was because of marketing or something, but it's not
that bad of a movie. It does tend to drag a little though, I will say
that. It's an average buddy cop movie with a few laughs and some cool
action scenes. A definite rental if anything.
Warner is bowing this movie with a widescreen version and full frame
version. I would never choose full frame so let's get around that. On
one more note, I've noticed a disturbing trend in the fact that more and
more movies are being released in two versions anymore. Good for
choices, I guess, but most people bought DVD players just to ensure
widescreen viewing. Some guy who hates the black bars must be
complaining. But at least we even get it in widescreen at all, huh?
Anyway, let's get into the disc. The picture on this 2.35:1 widescreen
transfer is great. After
Collateral Damage,
I was worried that Warner
might be losing their touch but this transfer shines. Colors are bold
and sharp with little to no edge enhancement applied. I did notice a
little bit of pixelization here and there but nothing too distracting. A
fine transfer from Warner.
The sound is decent. The dialogue seems, I don't know, low sometimes.
While the action scenes are very booming. It isn't anything that would
destroy the movie but it could have been a little better.
The extras are alright though. HBO First Look, Deleted scenes, some
improvs, trailer, and premiere party footage. Not bad, at least Warner
spiced it up a little instead of the average documentary surplus on some
DVDs.
Overall, Showtime is destined for rental status. Some good laughs are
there but they're far between. I found it marginally enjoyable and I
think you will too.
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
