The Mod Squad (1999)

Director:

Scott Silver

Writers (WGA):

Buddy Ruskin (characters)
Stephen T. Kay (written by) ...

Release Date:

26 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

They did the crime, They paid the time, Now they're...undercover?

Plot:

Three minor delinquints (Danes, Ribisi, and Epps) are recruited by a cop (Farina) working undercover to bust a cop/drug ring...

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Drug Ring | Undercover | Murder | Police

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Claire Danes	...	Julie
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Pete
Omar Epps	...	Linc
Dennis Farina	...	Greer
Josh Brolin	...	Billy
Steve Harris	...	Briggs
Richard Jenkins	...	Mothershed
Larry Brandenburg	...	Eckford
Lionel Mark Smith	...	Lanier
Sam McMurray	...	Tricky
Michael O'Neill	...	Greene
Stephen T. Kay	...	Bald Dude
Bodhi Elfman	...	Gilbert - Skinny Freak (as Bodhi Pine Elfman)
Holmes Osborne	...	Mr. Cochrane
Dey Young	...	Mrs. Cochrane

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence and some sexuality.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Milla Jovovich were among the actresses who were considered for the role of Julie Barnes.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Near the end, a car crashes through a warehouse. The walls looked to be made of tin. The vehicle was moving too fast to be stopped by one wall and the items that the vehicle hit on the inside of the warehouse. The vehicle should have crashed through the other wall since no one was in it to apply the brakes.

Quotes:

Det. Briggs: So you kids are, what? Some kind of mod squad or something?

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Lethal Weapon (1987)

Soundtrack:

Cut Chemist Suite

A confusing screenplay, disappointingly directed, with performances only as good as the writing allowed.

I was extremely disappointed with Mod Squad as a movie. There were a number of points which were never explored fully in respect to the character development. The script jumped from point to point without ever clearly explaining the real direction of the plot or the characters. Neither I nor the three people with me ranging from 18 to 85, could work out why the three young 'Mod Squad' members were recruited. We had no idea what they'd done to land themselves in hot water to begin with so they could have been murderers (no sympathy there). The action was minimal the highlight being an old car crashing through a metal door. "When was that film set?" my eighteen year old daughter asked me. The clever young actor from the "Other Sister" relied on the most basic of performance tricks such as shouting, to even be noticed. Long lingering shots of the female lead became dull. The young black actor had little to work on in his scripted characterisation. I found myself confused between the good and the bad cops and why a call to the police precinct, which had set up the criminal "bust" finale , was so obligingly received and acted on so promptly. The police were called to the scene as backup for our hero who was then an escaped felon (or was he????). The direction in my opinion was experimental to the point of distraction. One scene had our three protagonists in the front seat of a car plotting their next move. This was the bench mark. We saw the camera pan left, right, right, left, right, left then left again so continuously I became dizzy. The recording quality of the hand held reporters cassette recorder, the contents of which wrapped up the entire Mod Squad case was "studio quality" amazing!!! I see a minimum of sixty films a year. This was one of the least effective in a decade. my vote is 2 out of 10.