Homicide (1991)

 

Synopsis: Burnout detective can’t quite decide which case he ought to focus his attention upon.

Blurb From the VHS jacket: “Joe Mantegna stars as Detective Bobby Gold in this explosive cop thriller by David Mamet.” 

What Did I Learn?: 1) “When you start cumming with the customers, it’s time to quit.” 2) The FBI could fuck up a baked potato, and won’t put you on their Ten-Most-Wanted list until they know where you are and how long you’re going to be there. 

You Might Like This Movie If: You feel the need to see every single performance from Joe Montegna. 

Really?: Holy shit, this plot is contrived. So, let’s see… Gold finds a scrap of paper during an investigation, which leads him to somehow overhear a conversation at a research library, which leads him to a Jewish (possibly Israeli) vigilante group that doesn’t attempt to hide from him, even though he’s a police detective. The audience is asked to believe the vigilantes would still care about a list of individuals who ran shipments of machine guns to Israel circa 1947, or that a dedicated police officer would willingly throw caution to the wind and commit several felonies with people he barely knows. 

Rating: Written and directed by David Mamet, Homicide has some obvious credibility issues (see: “Really?”), but it’s otherwise redeemed by a magnificent performance by Montegna as an insecure but tough-acting detective whose life starts to spin out of control, great dialogue and a compelling (albeit not always believable) plot. (I know....I know... I usually have little patience for strange plot contrivances, but I am making an exception in this case). Check it out if you get the chance. 9/10 stars. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102048/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_9