Version I saw: UK DVD release
Actors: 7/10
Plot/script: 7/10
Photography/visual style: 6/10
Music/score: 6/10
Overall: 7/10
Dragnet is a reboot/sequel/remake of the 50s TV series of the same name, although it blurs the boundaries. To be honest, I know very little about the series, but I get the impression that it is essentially a straight police procedural with a single central character, Sgt. Joe Friday. Originally played by Jack Webb, the role is taken by Dan Aykroyd for this version. In addition, a partner has been inserted in the form of Det. Pep Streebek (Tom Hanks).
Although at first Hanks' role as the young, cool one slightly threw me, so used am I to seeing him as an older, more patriarchal figure, he plays it well. The contrast between him and the uptight, by-the-book Friday is and was an utterly hackneyed one, but it is implemented in an entertaining way that left me feeling forgiving.
This is really Aykroyd's film, though. He co-wrote the script, and delivers most of the funniest lines. In an odd contrast to Hanks, who plays his part more-or-less straight, Aykroyd's Friday is almost clownish. In fact, characters in this film have a very varied relationship to the jokes: some are clueless, others are totally in on the joke, and yet others react with more human bemusement.
It's all very 80s. The fashion, the music (including an ultra-80s synth opening sequence version of the iconic Dragnet theme), even the plot: I detected definite echoes of Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills Cop and Police Squad, all very 80s products. In some ways, this is as much a parody of 80s cool as it is of Friday and his rigid world. Crucially though, if this is a parody, it is an affectionate one, with a warmth for its subject that I found myself reciprocating.
Actors: 7/10
Plot/script: 7/10
Photography/visual style: 6/10
Music/score: 6/10
Overall: 7/10
Dragnet is a reboot/sequel/remake of the 50s TV series of the same name, although it blurs the boundaries. To be honest, I know very little about the series, but I get the impression that it is essentially a straight police procedural with a single central character, Sgt. Joe Friday. Originally played by Jack Webb, the role is taken by Dan Aykroyd for this version. In addition, a partner has been inserted in the form of Det. Pep Streebek (Tom Hanks).
Although at first Hanks' role as the young, cool one slightly threw me, so used am I to seeing him as an older, more patriarchal figure, he plays it well. The contrast between him and the uptight, by-the-book Friday is and was an utterly hackneyed one, but it is implemented in an entertaining way that left me feeling forgiving.
This is really Aykroyd's film, though. He co-wrote the script, and delivers most of the funniest lines. In an odd contrast to Hanks, who plays his part more-or-less straight, Aykroyd's Friday is almost clownish. In fact, characters in this film have a very varied relationship to the jokes: some are clueless, others are totally in on the joke, and yet others react with more human bemusement.
It's all very 80s. The fashion, the music (including an ultra-80s synth opening sequence version of the iconic Dragnet theme), even the plot: I detected definite echoes of Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills Cop and Police Squad, all very 80s products. In some ways, this is as much a parody of 80s cool as it is of Friday and his rigid world. Crucially though, if this is a parody, it is an affectionate one, with a warmth for its subject that I found myself reciprocating.