Dragnet

DRAGNET (PG)

D: Tom Mankiewicz

Universal/Applied Action (Bernie Brillstein)

USA 🇺🇸 1987

106 mins

Comedy/Crime

W: Dan Aykroyd, Alan Zweibel & Tom Mankiewicz [based on the television series created by Jack Webb]

DP: Matthew F. Leonetti

Mus: Ira Newborn

Dan Aykroyd (Sgt. Joe Friday), Tom Hanks (Det. Pep Streebek), Christopher Plummer (Rev. Jonathan Whitley), Harry Morgan (Capt. Bill Gannon), Alexandra Paul (Connie Swail), Jack O'Halloran (Emil Muzz), Dabney Coleman (Jerry Caesar)

Parody of the 1950's TV serial starring Dan Aykroyd as sententious detective Joe Friday & Tom Hanks as his scruffy partner Pep Streebeck.

The mismatched partners investigate a murder case and uncover a pagan cult in the underground of Los Angeles, with ties deeply rooted into city hall and the clergy.

Dan Aykroyd is great as the straight man to Tom Hanks' ridiculing mediator, simply there to laugh in the face of authority and tear the rule book up.

Some of the jokes are quite funny, particularly the one's which spoof the original TV series, but every now and then the comedy dips into puerile territory. It's at its best when the humour is kept subtle.

7/10