Dragnet

Based on the Jack Webb radio and television program, Dragnet follows by-the-book police officer Joe Friday (Dan Aykroyd) as he and his new laid-back partner (Tom Hanks’ Pep Streebek) must put aside their differences to solve a series of murders. It’s clear immediately that Dragnet isn’t exactly rife with appealing, attention-grabbing elements, as the movie, directed by Tom Mankiewicz, suffers from a palpably plodding feel that’s compounded by an continuing emphasis on the central characters’ tedious investigation – with Aykroyd and Hanks’ competent yet far-from-stellar work here certainly not alleviating the pervasively dull atmosphere. (Having said that, Hanks’ predictably loose and goofy performance is, at least, responsible for the movie’s few amusing moments.) The ensuing lack of momentum ensures that Dragnet wears out its welcome long before arriving at its anti-climactic finish, and it subsequently goes without saying that the movie’s 106 minute running time often feels much, much longer (ie there’s simply nothing propelling the narrative forward, ultimately). And although the movie boasts an unusually strong supporting cast (which includes, among others, Christopher Plummer and Dabney Coleman), Dragnet, in the end, can’t help but come off as a total misfire that wastes the palpable potential inherent in its premise (ie a buddy comedy with Aykroyd and Hanks should be nothing less than a 1980s classic).

*1/2 out of ****