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'Dragnet' is the movie Dan Aykroyd must have lived his whole life (up till then) to make. It is truly a moment of cosmic destiny that sees him donning the guise of Sgt. Joe Friday, nephew of the original, and it fits him like a glove. The film itself has its lags and fizzled gags, but Aykroyd himself has never been better. The machine-gun verbal delivery he honed to perfection on 'Saturday Night Live' is given its best showcase here, and even though Tom Hanks is on board as well and is very likable and funny, make no mistake- this is Dan Aykroyd's show all the way. The best moments of 'Dragnet' come when he spews his rapid-fire dialogue at anyone and everyone; quoting regulations, lecturing bad guys and co-workers alike on everything from sex to zoo animals, declaring his love for Los Angeles and its police department, and generally being so straight a straight-arrow, you wonder if he's ever told a lie in his life. Conviction is one thing that Aykroyd's Joe Friday is definitely not lacking. And that is really the fun of 'Dragnet;' it takes you inside Friday's world, a place without too much in common with modern-day reality, but a place he believes so firmly in that you can't help but be sucked inside. Hanks' Pep Streebeck is there as a sort of reminder of real life, and under other circumstances, the combination wouldn't work, but here it does. The plot is silly, having to do with a porn magazine publisher (Dabney Coleman) who is secretly in cahoots with a right-wing preacher (Christopher Plummer, of all people, doing a letter-perfect take-off of Pat Robertson). Aykroyd's Friday even has a love interest, the Virgin Connie Swail (Alexandra Paul) who is as off-the-wall in her own way as Friday is his, so they make an ideal couple. The film was only a modest hit, and it certainly wasn't Dan Aykroyd's most successful movie in terms of box-office. But 100 years from now, when someone researches his career and wants to find the ultimate Dan Aykroyd movie, all roads will lead them to 'Dragnet.' Here are some of his best bits of dialogue-
"I don't care what undercover rock you crawled out from, there's a dress code for detectives in Robbery-Homicide. Section 3-605. 10. 20. 22. 24. 26. 50. 70. 80. It specifies: clean shirt, short hair, tie, pressed trousers, sports jacket or suit, and leather shoes, preferably with a high shine on them."
"Now let me tell you something, Streebeck. There are two things that clearly differentiate the human species from animals. One, we use cutlery. Two, we're capable of controlling our sexual urges. Now, you might be an exception, but don't drag me down into your private Hell."
"Oh, it's a real knee-slapper, friend, if you consider California Penal Code section 4A, 4207A, 597 and 217 Theft, Kidnapping, Cruelty to Animals and Attempted Murder something to laugh about. My partner and I witnessed that little torchlight picnic you threw last night; we're going to put you where your kind always ends up - in a seven by seven foot grey-green metal cage in the fifteenth floor of some hundred-year-old penitentiary, with damp, stinking walls and a wooden plank for a bed. Sure, this city isn't perfect, we need a smut-free life for all of our citizens; cleaner streets, better schools, and good hockey team. But the big difference between you and me, mister, is you made the promise, and I'm going to keep it."
As Hanks' Pep Streebeck says, "Thank God it's Friday."
score 8/10
HelloTexas11 3 December 2007
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1774453/ |
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1-12-2019 00:18:27
