Downtown (1990)

7/10

Better than expected, funny, some good car chases

nath_j_h11 March 2007

Downtown wouldn't have been a personal choice but i was lent it with some other movies so I watched it. I understood that Forest Whitaker was in downtown (actor of recent film The Last King Of Scotland) The film turned out to be quite reasonable, co-star Anthony Edwards was actually quite funny at times making the film that little bit better, and not forgetting the soundtracks that make a good film.

The film included shooting scenes, car chase scenes, and a bit of comedy splashed in for good measure.Forest Whitaker played a fairly good part and is a decent actor, the problem with films these day is that 90% of them are swarming with new/fresh from drama school teens, we need to hang on to our good actors.

overall, a good cop flick worth the 90 min. - 7/10

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7/10

Fun buddy cop movie.

roddick-131 July 2005

I had been eying this movie for a while in cheap DVD bins but didn't think I would risk spending all the money I had in my pocket at the time on it. Luckily I found it at a video library so decided to check it out.

Forest Whitaker did a good job acting in this one. He's a skilled actor. He's been in a lot of movies I've seen but I didn't know it was him at the time because he wasn't one of the main characters so I couldn't pick him in the credits.

It is a good blend of action and comedy. There are some exciting chase scenes and good jokes.

Overall I thought it probably isn't worth all the money I had in my pocket at the time but is still worth a rent. It is a good buddy cop movie, any fans of the Lethal Weapon series will probably find this enjoyable.

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6/10

"The terminator wouldn't go to Diamond street".

lost-in-limbo11 December 2011

Simply a boisterous, if run-of-the-mill buddy cop action comedy that won't offer much in a way of surprises, but delivers a good amount of laughs, action, "Beach Boys" tunes and actor chemistry between Anthony Edwards and Forest Whitaker as two mismatched cops. One that is a rookie, by-the-book civil officer compared to the other who's a rogue, street-smart cop who does anything to get the job done. This wouldn't have been the first time these guys shared the screen, as Edwards and Whitaker had worked with each other in the classic 1982 teen comedy "Fast times in Ridgemont High". The plot follows that of a idealistic young rookie cop Kearny of a rich, peaceful suburb taking a transfer to downtown; Diamond street the most brutal and crime-ridden district. When his ex-police partner is brutally murdered in the area, he goes about trying to get those responsible but he will need the help of a detective Curren who knows how to get around this neighbourhood. Director Richard Benjamin provides many chaotic situations, clichéd but amusing and surprisingly brutal at times with its war zone like feel etched out from its urban settings. The bad guys here really do earn their strips. David Clennon is perfectly smug and showy as a rich, important community figure and Joe Pantoliano is effective as the ruthlessly psychotic hired killer who goes out in a very memorable manner. But where the amusement arises is the constant clashes between Edwards and Whitaker. Also showing up is Penelope Ann Millar, Ricky Aiello, Art Evans and Roger Aaron Brown. Generic, but still a fine addition to the fold.

"See I have this problem with authority".

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7/10

A f*ck-up. Another goddamn, four-star, class-A f*ck-up!

lastliberal1 June 2007

OK, so it's not Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, but this cop movie deserves a look.

It's not really a cop movie. Yes, the scumbags are dealing dope and killing cops, but this is about a black cop that lost his partner (Forest Whitaker) and a fish out of water - a white cop in the worst precinct in the inner city (Anthony Edwards). One is afraid of losing another partner, and the other just wants to learn how to do real police work.

It's funny, it's tender, it's sickly sweet at times, but it is really a good story about relationships; not only between cop partners, but between the wives and their husbands.

Give it a chance.

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6/10

Familiertown

DEPRESSEDcherry12 March 2021

This is a good movie, it looks and sounds good, has good action and acting, good characters and story... it's a good movie. But, it's not a standout movie. It's too much like the movies that paved the way towards this being made. It's Beverly Hills Cop, Lethal Weapon, and 48hrs. It's a buddy cop, fish outta water, and culture clash. It has the loud police chief, the reluctant partner, and the class divide. It's an action, thriller, and comedy. Sometimes serious, sometimes not. The problem is it doesn't reach anywhere near the heights of any of its predecessors, and it actually struggles to pull everything together. The balance of comedy and thriller is just off, it's goofy one moment and throat-slashing serious the next. Edwards and Whitaker are both good actors, but neither one is funny enough to carry the humor or convincing enough when the guns come out. It's not a classic but, it's a good movie.

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3/10

Inept Cop Buddy flick starring a very young Forest Whitaker and Anthony Edwards

Turfseer2 October 2021

Warning: Spoilers

The best thing about Downtown, Richard Benjamin's 1990 cop buddy film, is seeing what a very young Forest Whitaker and Anthony Edwards looked like before they became big stars. Aside from that, Downtown represents a very uneasy mix of comedy and more serious drama which ultimately doesn't work at all.

Edwards plays inexperienced white suburban cop Alex Kearney who gets into trouble after attempting to ticket a corrupt businessman who has connections to city government and is promptly transferred to a downtown inner-city precinct. Immediately we realize that this story cannot be taken seriously when there is a ridiculous shootout between cops and drug dealers inside the police precinct.

To add insult to injury, there is also a very unsavory additional scene inside the precinct where a drug addict/religious fanatic holds a little girl hostage by placing a gun to her head and is disarmed when Alex pretends he's God using the department's PA system.

Some might argue that the depiction of the inner city police precinct in this film is racist since all the police officers there are black-Alex is the only white cop in the office (since when were police precincts in Los Angeles completely segregated as of 1990?). But the point is also made that the downtown officers are not only way more experienced than their white suburban counterparts but they also know how to expertly handle real crime every day.

Alex ends up being partnered up with the much more experienced black cop, Dennis Curren (Whitaker). The relationship between the two officers fits the cop buddy formula, with Dennis constantly annoyed with his inept partner.

At a certain point early on Alex's buddy from the suburban force is killed by a psychopathic criminal by having his throat slit. What happened to the comedy here? The mixture takes the form of bad guy machinations coupled with a series of goofy good guy cop slapstick.

Finally Alex finds his mojo and along with Dennis's supervisor take the bad guys down, consisting of the aforementioned corrupt businessman, the psychopath and a police precinct commander. Where is Dennis in all this? He is hospitalized after being shot in the face by the psychopath and does not participate in the predictable climax.

Penelope Ann Miller as a completely forgettable role as Lori, Alex's love interest. Whitaker does well as the more experienced cop but Edwards's role is way too goofy to be taken seriously. This is one hell of a forgettable flick which should be avoided at all costs.

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I can't believe there is only 6 comments on this movie

twokiloseven17 June 2007

Warning: Spoilers

It is hard to believe there is only 6 comments on this movie. This is a great buddy cop movie, easily one of the better ones you will see. Both Forest Whitaker and Anthony Edwards are fine actors in anything they have been in and this movie is no exception. The action starts right away and is very steady throughout the movie. There is a lot of good comedy in this movie as well, slightly cheesy but no worse then most other movies. Forest Whitaker finally received significant recognition for his acting ability for The Last King Of Scotland, it is about time! His fine performances in movies like Phonebooth, Phenomenon, Platoon, Good Morning Vietnam and countless other roles he has played over the years have been overlooked for far too long! The chemistry between Whitaker and Edwards is very good there are a few very funny moments between them. If you like cop movies take a look you should not regret it and if you do it is like I always say you never have to watch it again.

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7/10

A well-done 80's Comedy with the swing of great action

Radon1330 October 2002

Here is another of my personal favourites 80's comedies. A solid production with a marvellous Anthony Edwards and a bad-ass Forest Whitaker. Lots of the scenes have an unique Choreography.

A good surprise for 80's fans!!

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5/10

Hack Writer Alert

aimless-4617 August 2008

"Downtown" is a box office crash & burn from 1990. Basically it is yet another unsuccessful attempt to follow-up on the success of "Beverly Hills Cop" (without the benefit of Eddie Murphy). These inter-racial, buddy picture, cop movie, comedy-action features simply don't work without a talented comic and Anthony Edwards of "Revenge of the Nerds" fame is only mildly funny. Add to this a more serious group of themes than Murphy had to deal with and the incongruity of mixing these conflicting genres makes the whole a lot less than the sum of its parts.

Yet "Downtown" is more entertaining than its "bomb at the box office" reputation would lead you to believe. The production design, filming, and editing are first class. Although the action scenes are unconvincing, this is due more to lamely inserted comedy elements than cheap staging.

Much is genuinely embarrassing such as when a PCP abuser holds a little girl hostage, with a gun to her head, and the subtext lamely plays the scene for laughs. What genius thought that scene would work? And they wonder why these things lose money? In this exercise in schizoid film-making, Anthony Edwards and Forest Whitaker are the standard odd couple partnering up to solve the murder of Edwards' former partner. Nerd boy Alex (Edwards) in his worst scenes listens to Beach Boys music and in his best scenes is paired with his girlfriend (Penelope Ann Miller).

Alex is a suburban patrolman who has been banished to the worst downtown Philly division because of a confrontation with a slimy bigwig (unconvincingly overplayed by David Clennon). Dennis (Whitaker) is a detective with a lot of baggage that makes it difficult for him to warm up to Alex.

But Alex and Dennis eventually bond (big surprise) and Whitaker turns in a pretty good performance (much too good for this material). Whitaker and Miller assist the marginally talented but generally likable Edwards enough that it is possible for the average viewer to suspend disbelief most of the time and actually get into the story. Just be prepared for a lot of extremely lame moments that would have been more entertaining had the editor relegated them to his deleted scenes bin.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

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6/10

Cop out of water - big time!

hitchcockthelegend2 April 2019

Police Officer Alex Kearney is a keen by the book cop who's happy with his beat in a nice part of Philadelphia. Unfortunately his adherence to the rules lands him in trouble with his chiefs after he tries to arrest an important businessman who has long standing police connections. When his side of the story is not believed, he is given the choice of suspension or a transfer to downtown. Choosing the transfer, Kearney isn't quite prepared for just how dangerous and crime filled downtown actually is. Worse still, his new tough no nonsense partner positively hates him!

It's churlish to suggest that Downtown is merely a cash in of the buddy buddy inter racial cop movies, that, as we know, were made viable entertainment fare by the likes of Lethal Weapon and Beverly Hills Cop. Starring Forest Whitaker (Dennis Curren) and Anthony Edwards (Alex Kearney), Downtown is as much about a fish out of water scenario than it is polar opposite cops working together. With both things dovetailing together to create an engaging actioner that's worth the time of those who are stuck for something light to watch.

Suffering a touch in the last finale due to an inevitable mawkish character strand, some minor irks stop this from reaching greater heights, chiefly that David Clennon's barely grumpy villain is just not strong enough for some dramatic heft. However, there's some genuinely funny scenes between Edwards and Whitaker, the action set-pieces are well staged and thus Downtown gets most of the genre's requisites right. Nice support comes from Joe Pantoliano as a bizarre looking hit-man and Penelope Ann Miller as Kearney's fraught girlfriend, Lori Mitchell. 6.5/10

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5/10

Identity Crisis

view_and_review19 March 2020

I am currently under "shelter-in-place" orders due to COVID19, so you can imagine the very few activities that can be done. Normally, I would go to the gym, or the movies, or bowling, or numerous other activities that I like to do, but now all of those businesses are shuttered. So, now I'm left with my friends Netflix, Amazon Prime, Xfinity, and their sisters plus books. I am not a gamer so that's out.

I decided to torture myself with this movie mainly because I remember watching it as a kid and I remember it being better. A Philadelphia police officer named Alex Kearney (Anthony Edwards) got himself transferred to the Diamond Street District precinct of Philadelphia after he attempted to issue a speeding ticket to a well-known rich guy. Once he got to the downtown police station we got to see all of the stereotypes that go along with inner city/urban/downtown life: plenty of black faces and plenty of crime complete with the new guy getting his car stripped right in front of the police station.

His reluctant partner, sergeant Dennis Curren (Forest Whitaker), was your typical angry Black man. In this case he wasn't angry at the world because the system has been oppressing him, he was angry because of his fear that if he got another partner he would lose that partner and he couldn't handle that. Along with angry-Black-partner was equally angry and boisterous Black captain. He was a walking cliché--shouting out swear words left and right and constantly demeaning and degrading the new kid on the block.

The two partners from opposite sides of the tracks eventually learned to get along so that they could solve the crime of who killed Kearney's partner.

When the movie was comedic it was bearable, when they went serious and dramatic it was unbearable. It's hard to take things seriously when you establish yourself as a comedy then switch things up midstream. It would alternate between these ridiculous scenarios and these serious heart-to-hearts. It is really too bad that the poor dialogue and identity confusion got in the way because the crime mystery aspect of the movie was actually pretty good. If "Downtown'' could have abandoned the overplayed stereotypes and ironed out it's identity issues--meaning deciding that it's going to be either a comedy or drama--I think it had a chance of actually being something worthwhile.

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Forget Lethal Weapon!!!

Fenster-78 May 1999

I really enjoyed this film. It was a perfect cop/buddy movie. The story is cool and it has a lot of comedy for an action film, but not too much. If you are a fan of Lethal Weapon or Bad Boys, then this is for you!

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Tim the Bus Driver

granthewitt6518 July 2007

I'm just watching this movie and I think it's great. One question, Kearney greets the bus driver on his commute "Downtown" as "Tim." I only caught a brief glimpse, but I think the driver is played by Tim Roth. Can anyone confirm?

Anthony Edward's performance, in my opinion, is very much like Judge Reinhold in Beverley Hills Cop. In fact I think the whole movie has a Beverley Hills Cop feel to it, albeit without the knockout performance of Eddie Murphy. Forest Whitaker is good in this movie, as usual a very skilled performance,and I wish his character was given a little more emphasis and depth.

All in all a great movie and a credit to the Buddy Cop genre.

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Routine buddy cops film

lor_5 May 2023

My review was written in January 1990 after watching the movie at a Chelsea theater in Manhattan.

"Downtown" is a routine buddy cops film, with no chance to give 20th Century Fox a hit in the genre to parallel its loner cop annuity, "Die Hard".

Scripter Nat Mauldin's by-the-numbers premise has white bread young cop Anthony Edwards become the fish out of water transferred from the comfy suburbs to Philadelphia's inner-city Diamond Street district. He's had a run-in trying to arrest powerful businessman David Clennon for speeding. It's telegraphed tha Clennon will be back as the main plot cog.

Emphasizing his flair for slapstick (with oodles of blood and bruises that the Three Stooges never incurred), Edwards displays myriad forms of incompetence, instantly incurring the wrath of his new boss (Art Evans). He attaches himself, unwanted, to young but seasoned black detective Forest Whitakr and tries to solve the murder of his former partner from the 'burgs, perpetrated near the Diamond Street police station. A scam involving stolen Mercedes autos and corrupt police provides some interest along the way.

Chemistry between the two leads occasionally works, but helmer Richard Benjamin fails to maintain a consistent tone. Atop the slapstick and black humor there is some unnecessary ultra-violence and both mawkish and dramatic scenes that clash with the intended good-timey feel. Best attempt at injecting depth beyond the surface gags is Whitaker's lengthy monolog recalling the death of his first partner, delivered movingly by the "Bird" star.

Supporting turns by Penelope Ann Miller and Kimberly Scott as the leads' wives are well-played, and ic's most memorable role is Evans' showy effort as the foul-mouthed, explosive top cop downtown. Villains Clennon and Joe Pantoliano seem miscast and he thesps play it tongue-in-cheek and way too light.

Pic's biggest bone comes when Whitake is written out of the film before the last reel. It's designed as a plot twist, but comes off as pointless -one infe4rs while watching that the thesp had to run off and fulfill another film assignment. He pops back in for a coda scene but it's too late since he's missing at the de rigeur shootout with the heavies.

Tech credits are impressive, notably Terry Leonard's frequent and scary car chases and stunts. War zone atmosphere of the Philly setting is well conveyed, though the film was shot primarily in L. A.

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