This review contains some spoilers, but I will do my best to avoid giving away important surprises.
The American video box for `Midnight Cop' features a bunch of shots of Morgan Fairchild, a few smaller ones of Michael York, and one of Frank Stallone. This led me to believe that these three were the most important characters. In actuality, the real star is the title character played by Armin Mueller-Stahl. Stahl wasn't a familiar face in America when this was distributed on video in 1989, which is probably why the box doesn't show his picture, but even its description avoids mentioning the central character as much as possible. That's too bad, since Stahl is a good actor, and in this movie he is in most of the film while Fairchild is more of a minor character, in my opinion. As the movie was rolling along, I was enjoying it for the most part, and figured it would be a sleeper hit. It wasn't great thanks the editing. While scenes in the movie were nice and gritty without being so glum that they make you ill, transitions were poor and it looked like the editor stuck scenes together using a jar of elementary school paste. However, I was still enjoying the cinematography and familiar but interesting story. Then something went terribly, terribly wrong.
Stahl plays a Berlin homicide police commissioner (though he acts more like a police detective). He is living with the mental trauma of not being able to see his own daughter anymore and the guilt of accidentally crippling a little girl in a shootout. He ands his new assistant (played by one of the screenwriters) get wrapped up in a strange murder case of a young woman that is killed with an overdose of heroin and gets Vaseline rubbed on her face. Stahl believes the killer to be drug dealer Frank Stallone. To try to get at Stallone, Stahl starts warming up to prostitute Morgan Fairchild. But the deeper he gets in the case, the more he starts to believe someone else is behind the murder and is trying to frame Stallone. There is more to the plot, but I do not wish to discuss it for I would have to reveal some aspects I should not give away.
That all sounds good, right? So what the heck happened? What caused it to sink like a stone? Well, for one thing there are the performances. Frank Stallone is actually very good as the dealer. He doesn't have enough screen time, but I could tell he is better at playing a bad guy than he is at the hero, such as his role in the lousy `Terror in Beverly Hills.' Michael York, playing a district attorney, is also very good in his role. Stahl is a mixed bag. When he is doing cop stuff, he seems uncomfortable and unsure of how to act. But when he is expressing emotion, he is very good. Fairchild, though, is sos bad she stinks up all her scenes. An annoying thing about the movie is the setting. I know it was filmed in Berlin, but you wouldn't be able to tell by using your ears. Stahl speaks with a German accent, York with a British accent, and everyone else with an American accent. They needed to either move the filming location or get and all-German cast. Or at least actors who could use a German accent. But the final thirty minutes really kill the good experience. I knew who the real killer was before the first murder took place. But the crucial answer as to why the murders are happening is never pinpointed. There are about three different theories thrown at you, but they don't make any sense when you try to group them all together or apply the motives to the second killing. There are two other things that are dreadfully wrong, too. One is the really terrible and really unbelievable love angle between Stahl and Fairchild. Come on! Who are they trying to kid here? The other is the pitiful final scene, completely unnecessary and totally contrived. Combined, these elements take what could have been a 6 or a 7 and lower them to a 4. And of course, there is also the vendor with a ladybug stuck to the top of his bald head, but I'll let you see that one for yourselves. Zantara's score: 4 out of 10.
The American video box for `Midnight Cop' features a bunch of shots of Morgan Fairchild, a few smaller ones of Michael York, and one of Frank Stallone. This led me to believe that these three were the most important characters. In actuality, the real star is the title character played by Armin Mueller-Stahl. Stahl wasn't a familiar face in America when this was distributed on video in 1989, which is probably why the box doesn't show his picture, but even its description avoids mentioning the central character as much as possible. That's too bad, since Stahl is a good actor, and in this movie he is in most of the film while Fairchild is more of a minor character, in my opinion. As the movie was rolling along, I was enjoying it for the most part, and figured it would be a sleeper hit. It wasn't great thanks the editing. While scenes in the movie were nice and gritty without being so glum that they make you ill, transitions were poor and it looked like the editor stuck scenes together using a jar of elementary school paste. However, I was still enjoying the cinematography and familiar but interesting story. Then something went terribly, terribly wrong.
Stahl plays a Berlin homicide police commissioner (though he acts more like a police detective). He is living with the mental trauma of not being able to see his own daughter anymore and the guilt of accidentally crippling a little girl in a shootout. He ands his new assistant (played by one of the screenwriters) get wrapped up in a strange murder case of a young woman that is killed with an overdose of heroin and gets Vaseline rubbed on her face. Stahl believes the killer to be drug dealer Frank Stallone. To try to get at Stallone, Stahl starts warming up to prostitute Morgan Fairchild. But the deeper he gets in the case, the more he starts to believe someone else is behind the murder and is trying to frame Stallone. There is more to the plot, but I do not wish to discuss it for I would have to reveal some aspects I should not give away.
That all sounds good, right? So what the heck happened? What caused it to sink like a stone? Well, for one thing there are the performances. Frank Stallone is actually very good as the dealer. He doesn't have enough screen time, but I could tell he is better at playing a bad guy than he is at the hero, such as his role in the lousy `Terror in Beverly Hills.' Michael York, playing a district attorney, is also very good in his role. Stahl is a mixed bag. When he is doing cop stuff, he seems uncomfortable and unsure of how to act. But when he is expressing emotion, he is very good. Fairchild, though, is sos bad she stinks up all her scenes. An annoying thing about the movie is the setting. I know it was filmed in Berlin, but you wouldn't be able to tell by using your ears. Stahl speaks with a German accent, York with a British accent, and everyone else with an American accent. They needed to either move the filming location or get and all-German cast. Or at least actors who could use a German accent. But the final thirty minutes really kill the good experience. I knew who the real killer was before the first murder took place. But the crucial answer as to why the murders are happening is never pinpointed. There are about three different theories thrown at you, but they don't make any sense when you try to group them all together or apply the motives to the second killing. There are two other things that are dreadfully wrong, too. One is the really terrible and really unbelievable love angle between Stahl and Fairchild. Come on! Who are they trying to kid here? The other is the pitiful final scene, completely unnecessary and totally contrived. Combined, these elements take what could have been a 6 or a 7 and lower them to a 4. And of course, there is also the vendor with a ladybug stuck to the top of his bald head, but I'll let you see that one for yourselves. Zantara's score: 4 out of 10.