Film Reviews

Showtime

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Eddie Murphy
• Details: US / 95 mins / (12PG).

In this buddy comedy and toothless satire of reality television, De Niro plays Mitch Preston, a tough-talking cop who encounters wise cracking wannabe detective Trey Sellars during an ill-fated undercover drugs operation. A fading television producer, Chase Renzi (Russo) witnesses the pair in action, and due to an unlikely set of circumstances, is allowed to pair them off for a new reality TV show on cops. And even though the mismatched pair are finding it difficult to adjust to life on television, a nefarious villain, Vargas (Damian) must also be stopped.
Both De Niro and Murphy simply reprise the characteristics of the parts they played (and better) in other films, while Dey shows a distinct lack of imagination and flair. Okay, it's not atrocious - the movie has a couple of funny gags, most courtesy of William Shatner - but Showtime could have done with a lot more bite

Review by Garreth Murphy