by Sun Meilan

Created on: July 08, 2009

Detective Sergeant Joe Friday takes his job as an upholder of the law. When he discovers that his new partner, Pep Streebek, is a long-haired, laid-back hippy, he is not impressed, making sure that Pep cleans up before they go out to work. Slowly though, the two begin to compromise and work well together, and are determined to rid Los Angeles of a new criminal threat - a gang of men called the Pagans, who are determined to take over city and already have members in positions of high authority. In the process of the investigation, Joe falls in love and, uncharacteristically, manages to get himself suspended. Can Pep beat the Pagans on his own? And will the course of true love go smoothly for Joe?

Made in 1987 and directed by Tom Mankiewicz, Dragnet (the film, not to be confused with the TV series, which I haven't seen) is a parody of American police drama, mainly the TV series of the same name, of the fifties and sixties. A much younger looking Dan Ackroyd plays Joe Friday. Not being a huge fan of Ackroyd, I wasn't expecting all that much from him; however, he was actually very good most of the time. He narrates most of the story in the form of a police report; his voice is so flat and dead-pan when he comes out with the most ridiculous statements that it is hard not to laugh. There are times when he has to dress up and look completely idiotic, which are a bit over the top, but he just about manages to pull it off without it turning into a complete farce. The relationship he starts with a victim of the Pagans is a little unconvincing, but that is mainly because the actress playing the love interest just doesn't seem suited to him rather than anything Ackroyd does wrong.

Tom Hanks plays Pep Streebek; again, he looks incredibly young. It was good to see him in a comic role again; it suits him, although I still think his best performances are in dramas. What I liked best was the way he worked with Dan Ackroyd - the two really seemed to build a strong relationship during the course of the film and I enjoyed watching them influence the other, so that by the end, they were much more similar in personality. To be honest though, Dan Ackroyd's anally-retentive character is much funnier than Hanks', and Ackroyd has the better lines. Still, not a bad attempt by Hanks, who was in the early part of his film career at the time the film was made.

I have to mention Christopher Plummer, who plays an apparently uptight clergyman, who may not be quite as innocent as he seems.

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