- 1991movierewind
Episode #128: Homicide
Listen to Episode 128 of the Podcast here while you enjoy the show notes.
SUMMARY - In Homicide, detective Bobby Gold (played by Joe Mantegna) is hot on the trail of a well-known, cop-killing menace when he is pulled off the case and assigned to a seemingly random murder of an older Jewish shopkeeper. As he reluctantly looks into the details further, Gold starts to uncover the deeper racist underpinnings of the city and an underground movement.
Screenplay by David Mamet; Directed by David Mamet; and opened the Cannes Film Festival on May 9,1991.
FILM DISCUSSION
The movie has a ton of conflict and the inner workings of the cops vs the FBI is used frequently and never comes off well. This is no exception.
But we have good conversations between solid characters that carry a lot of the feature.
The movie is about identity in multiple forms and everyone seems to be obsessed in categorizing people into just one bucket.
This leads to interesting conversations and a conflict of character within Gold and a little confusion from us.
The undercover organization that pressures the cop to break the law while not offering assistance in the murder was a very strange choice.
It's also strange to have the big reveal at the end that also makes it seem like the main plot points were in his head and that contradicts a lot of the movie.
We were extremely confused by some of the timeline things and what seemed like artificial conflict in not allowing Gold to take part in the early morning takedown.
Ving Rhames was underutilized, but also shows how even "small" characters can be presented with depth.
Awards Talk: At the Cannes Film Festival, it was nominated for the Palme d’Or. Later at the Spirit Awards, it earned nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Male (Macy), and Best Feature. It was also named in the National Board of Review's Top 10 list
TRUE CRIME & POP CULTURE
This week we don't have any true crime segment to talk about so our pop culture segment focuses on Michael Landon's last talk show appearance on Johnny Carson
For more information, here is an article from Parade as well.
RANKINGS & RATINGS
Nikki 1-5 star scale - 3 out of 5
Jon 0-4 star scale - 3 out of 4
Would you watch it again? - Most of our episode was complaining or nitpicking about aspects that kept it from being an upper echelon movie. So, while we enjoyed it, we would only watch it again with the Criterion director's commentary or Q&A, etc to see if our interpretations or opinions could be changed.
If you want to watch Homicide, as of this recording in August 2023, it’s available on Peacock, Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex, Freevee, Philo, Crackle, Digital Rental, VHS, DVD. Check your local listings.
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