The Enforcer
It’s not an unlikeable movie; it has good bits, and Eastwood’s reaction shots as Harry during certain exchanges almost imbue The Enforcer with a point.
But the plot is both excessively convoluted and not meaty enough for a feature-length action movie.It’s only 90-ish minutes and it still feels padded — and the bulk of the padding, the action sequences, don’t really work.It lacks tension.
Again, it’s not bad; it’s not good, either, but I watched it while taking care of some filing, and it’s perfect to accompany that sort of thing.The problem with the Dirty Harry franchise, though, and to an extent with the Die Hard movies…it’s hard to articulate, but basically it’s as if the sequels haven’t seen the originals.It’s not bothersome per se that John McClain keeps finding himself in that situation over and over; it’s that the movie doesn’t acknowledge it properly.I think, in Die Hard 2, Bruce Willis has a “jeez, what’re the odds” type of throwaway line at some point, which is fine, but…well, really, the odds are impossibly slender, and for us to continue buying these guys in these situations, the script has to make the odds a bit fatter.Make McClain a hostage-negotiation expert now, or an extraction something-something with a private contractor, based on what he learned in the original movie.
Harry, same thing.Har dee har har, his partners always get killed — it’s not enough to have his partners mention that minutes before a bullet whistles through a cruller and splits their skulls for them.We know his partners always get killed too; after the second movie, you’ve got to make him a P.I. or something so we don’t spend the whole film wondering why, instead of ranting at him for embarrassing the department, uhhhh-gain, and having to explain to the umpteenth stricken widow/er that Harry is a death magnet, they don’t just make the guy take retirement.We don’t really care about the details of the characters’ hours and benefits; we just want to know that the movie cares that it doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
I didn’t explain this well so feel free to “henh?” me in the comments.
One thing I thought The Enforcer handled…well, not “well,” but more economically than I’d have expected: the Tyne Daly/”affirmative action for women on the force” motif.You have to grade on a mid-seventies curve for the presentation, and of course the writing finds a way to make Harry concerned about qualifications and safety instead of a straight-up sexist (and if he’s that concerned with the safety of his fellow officers…see above.Boyfriend needs to hand out some Kevlar or quit, the one), but Daly made a whole career out of shouldering the types of “don’t talk to me like that, sir” dialogue she’s got here, and she’s good.And she shoots a nun.Okay, not a real nun, which is the point, but still.Bad-ass.
Your takeaway: if you don’t give it a close read, you’ll be fine.Put it on the plasma at a party and don’t pay too close attention.
Tags: Bruce Willis Clint Eastwood movies shut up sequels Tyne Daly
I think the kind of continuity/believability you’re talking about was consciously sacrificed on the altar of success… let’s do exactly what we did the first time, and they will come.
The problem with the Die Hard films and continuity is bothersome, especially going from Die Hard 2 to With a Vengeance. I’m almost willing to believe that McClane finds himself in the situation again, but the other thread of continuity is his relationship with his wife, which seems to have no logic across the first three films and then exists only to give McClane a daughter in peril in the fourth installment. It is worth noting, however, that none of the Die Hard sequels were initially conceived as Die Hard films. Die Hard 2 was based on a completely unrelated book and With a Vengeance and Live Free or Die Hard were both spec scripts onto which the McClane character was grafted. They are almost like serial television of the 80s (think A-team) where it is all about the piling up of adventures.
I’d have to divorce ol’ McClane if I were Holly, all “Darlin, I love ya, but, you know, all the bombs & terrorists all the damn time. I can’t deal. No, don’t call, then they just follow me around, talking sequels & plot twists. Here’s your stuff in a box. Sorry babe.”
“And she shoots a nun.” Really? I am gonna HAVE to re-watch this! You’d think someone who’d spent 8 years in Catholic School Hell would remember that scene!