"The Mod Squad" is a motion picture update of the original TV series which originally aired in the late 60s/early 70s.
The original "Mod Squad" featured a trio of college aged friends circa 1970 who had unofficial detective status with the local Los Angeles police force and worked to solve crimes that were taking place among people their age. The story lines frequently dealt with then-timely topics of the counter culture, feminism, civil rights, racism, the war in Vietnam, the (Baby Boomer era) generation gap, and more. Without actually being cops, this was a precursor of sorts to the 1980s-era 21 Jump Street.
This film takes the basic, general concept of the Mod Squad, but doesn't execute the story very well. The lead characters (played by Omar Epps, Giovanni Ribisi, Claire Daines) all come across as sullen twits who have had previous scrapes with the law as teens, but somehow have come under the mentorship of a police Captain (played by a wasted Dennis Farina.) **Major Spoilers** the death of the Captain early on in the story prompts a revenge investigation by the Squad, but his death puts a cap on finding out just why this guy was so committed to mentoring these delinquents instead of just allowing the book to be thrown at them, years ago.
The main plot has the team investigating a drug ring that heavily uses young adults as mules/dealers. Of course, the main boss is anything but someone their age, hence the "don't trust anyone over 25" attitude among the trio.
Julie (Danes) has a cheating boyfriend, and in one sequence she sets his car and clothes on fire in revenge. This comes only a few years removed from a similar tactic seen in "Waiting to Exhale", so there's a bit of anticlimactic context to it.
The villain is a generic mobster, and a sequence where he wants to dance with one of the male Squad guys is played straight, but comes across as an awkward gay-panic joke.
The theater audience I saw this with got more of a hoot out of Eddie Griffin's cameo than they did out of Omar Epps' entire performance.
About the only role I envied in this film was Claire Danes' pants.
The original "Mod Squad" featured a trio of college aged friends circa 1970 who had unofficial detective status with the local Los Angeles police force and worked to solve crimes that were taking place among people their age. The story lines frequently dealt with then-timely topics of the counter culture, feminism, civil rights, racism, the war in Vietnam, the (Baby Boomer era) generation gap, and more. Without actually being cops, this was a precursor of sorts to the 1980s-era 21 Jump Street.
This film takes the basic, general concept of the Mod Squad, but doesn't execute the story very well. The lead characters (played by Omar Epps, Giovanni Ribisi, Claire Daines) all come across as sullen twits who have had previous scrapes with the law as teens, but somehow have come under the mentorship of a police Captain (played by a wasted Dennis Farina.) **Major Spoilers** the death of the Captain early on in the story prompts a revenge investigation by the Squad, but his death puts a cap on finding out just why this guy was so committed to mentoring these delinquents instead of just allowing the book to be thrown at them, years ago.
The main plot has the team investigating a drug ring that heavily uses young adults as mules/dealers. Of course, the main boss is anything but someone their age, hence the "don't trust anyone over 25" attitude among the trio.
Julie (Danes) has a cheating boyfriend, and in one sequence she sets his car and clothes on fire in revenge. This comes only a few years removed from a similar tactic seen in "Waiting to Exhale", so there's a bit of anticlimactic context to it.
The villain is a generic mobster, and a sequence where he wants to dance with one of the male Squad guys is played straight, but comes across as an awkward gay-panic joke.
The theater audience I saw this with got more of a hoot out of Eddie Griffin's cameo than they did out of Omar Epps' entire performance.
About the only role I envied in this film was Claire Danes' pants.