The Mod Squad (1999)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

Scott Silver

Writers (WGA):

Buddy Ruskin (characters)
Stephen T. Kay (written by) ...

Release Date:

26 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

They did the crime, They paid the time, Now they're...undercover?

Plot:

Three minor delinquints (Danes, Ribisi, and Epps) are recruited by a cop (Farina) working undercover to bust a cop/drug ring...

Plot Keywords:

Box Office Flop | Motor Car Wash | Corruption | Drug Deal | Los Angeles California

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Claire Danes	...	Julie Barnes
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Peter Cochran
Omar Epps	...	Lincoln Hayes
Dennis Farina	...	Captain Adam Greer
Josh Brolin	...	Billy Waites
Steve Harris	...	Det. Briggs
Richard Jenkins	...	Det. Bob Mothershed
Larry Brandenburg	...	Det. Tom Eckford
Lionel Mark Smith	...	Det. Earnie Lanier
Sam McMurray	...	Det. Tricky
Michael O'Neill	...	Det. Carl Greene
Stephen T. Kay	...	Bald Dude (Gilbert's Pal)
Bodhi Elfman	...	Gilbert 'Skinny Freak' O'Reiley (as Bodhi Pine Elfman)
Holmes Osborne	...	Mr. Cochrane
Dey Young	...	Mrs. Cochrane

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence and some sexuality.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Milla Jovovich were among the actresses who were considered for the role of Julie Barnes.

Goofs:

Continuity: Peter Cochran's digital watch has a visible display in shots where it is too far away to read it and is blank in shots where you can clearly read the display.

Quotes:

Det. Briggs: So you kids are, what? Some kind of mod squad or something?

Movie Connections:

References Car Wash (1976)

Coulda shoulda didn't...

For being categorized in the genre of "Action/Thriller", there wasn't a great deal of action nor was there anything particularly thrilling about this film.

I went into it with no expectations save for being entertained. As it was, I kept pushing the "Display" on my DVD player to see how much longer I had to endure this.

Claire Danes, Giovanni Ribisi and Omar Epps are extremely watchable and gifted actors. "The Mod Squad" offers them nothing to work with. On a story level, their origins are glossed over, the rocky relationship with their Captain (though stereotypical of so many Hollywood films) isn't even close to being fleshed out even a little and we (as the audience) have no reason to believe they even care why they're trying to solve the mystery presented in the film. I certainly didn't care and just kept watching to see how Ribisi would further destroy Epps' car in the little bit of comic relief someone thought to write in.

The technical aspects of the film are a disaster. The editing is simply poor and the action sequences appear to have been directed after a very heavy lunch when the crew would have better spent their time taking a nap.

This film could have been about angst and action, should have been better planned out and directed by someone who had a notion of how to handle the material, but alas it just wasn't.

Don't waste your time.