THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 19, 1997 TAG: 9701180090
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E11 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: 53 lines
NO LAUGHS. One good chase scene.
That's the story on Eddie Murphy's new film, ``Metro.''
Murphy is plagued with trying to decide whether he should be a comic or an action star - Jerry Lewis or Sylvester Stallone. After a string of flops, he made a comeback in ``The Nutty Professor'' by marketing cruel, tasteless fat jokes. The fact that it worked suggests that his fans want him to be funny.
So what did he do? He returned to the action genre. ``Metro'' is merely ``San Francisco Cop'' rather than ``Beverly Hills Cop.'' The ``Beverly Hills Cop'' series, initially a big hit, ran out of steam when it went for action rather than laughs. The third entry failed because it featured high-tech explosions rather than character and humor. The same goes for ``Metro,'' although Eddie is again cast as a motormouth cop who is more audacious than sensible.
Eddie's rise to stardom was as a naughty, very naughty, street boy who effectively thumbed his nose at the world. As he gets older, it's more difficult for him to make the persona believable.
In this by-the-numbers action flick, Michael Wincott (who even gave Christopher Columbus trouble in ``1492'') plays a soft-voiced psycho who steals jewels. He passes a lopped-off ear to the media to let them know he means business with his hostages. The part is so sketchily drawn that he never becomes really scary. Besides, we've seen these villains by the dozens.
Michael Rapaport, a genuinely funny persona with that dumb-dumb gullible face, is cast as Eddie's partner and, surprisingly, is asked to play it straight. He looks pretty silly when he isn't trying to be funny, which is throughout this film. (Remember how funny he was in Woody Allen's ``Mighty Aphrodite''?)
But there are virtually no laughs throughout the film and no action for an hour. The payoff, of sorts, comes with a fine action sequence - a car chase involving a San Francisco cable car. Any moviemaker who stages a car chase in San Francisco treads in the tire tracks of Steve McQueen's driving in ``Bullit,'' the chase that arguably started the trend. ``Metro's'' race is lively, but comes late.
Give us laughs, Eddie. We've seen Jean Claude Van Damme, and you should be thankful you're no Jean Claude Van Damme. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Metro''
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Michael Rapaport, Michael Wincott, Carmen
Ejogo
Director: Thomas Carter
MPAA rating: R (language, violence)
Mal's rating: 2 stars