Director: Rowdy Herrington
Writer: Rowdy Herrington, Marty Kaplan (Screenplay)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Farina, Tom Sizemore, Brion James, Robert Pastorelli
Plot: Coming from a police family, Tom Hardy ends up fighting his uncle after the murder of his father. Tom believes the killer is another cop, and goes on the record with his allegations. Demoted then to river duty, the killer taunts Tom.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Enjoyable Crime Mystery
Story: Striking Distance starts as we learn about Detective Tom Hardy (Willis) who is from a cop family with father Vince (Mahoney) killed during a high-speed pursuit around the time of a trial against Tom’s former partner Jimmy Detillo (Pastoreli) for excess force used that Tom went against. We also have a serial killer on the loose but soon everything gets tied together with the killer caught even though it isn’t the man Tom believes it is.
After Jimmy kills himself Tom gets reassigned to a river rescue, when a body turns up in the river, Tom’s Uncle Captain Nick Detillo (Farina) enters the investigation. Tom gets a new partner in Jo Christman (Parker) but Tom’s life is turned upside down as the serial killer has returned, taunting Tom as he killed their latest victim, but this clashes Tom with Nick as Tom searches for the truth.
Thoughts on Striking Distance
Characters/Performance – Detective Tom Hardy is from a cop family, he has tracked a serial killer and doesn’t believe the outcome of the hearing, when his father is killed Tom is moved to a small department, now he is being targeted by the killer who is making it personal but Hardy must go against all odds and opinions to solve the case. Jo is the latest partner Tom works with, she is by the book questioning Tom’s motives but also loyal to the Tom’s beliefs. Captain Nick doesn’t want to push Tom out but must to keep his department working.
Performance wise, Willis is good in this film which is one where we see the typical cop needing to solve the case before it is too late, Parker is solid throughout and makes for good supporting performance with Farina who was always good in cop roles do everything well and we also have a good performance from Sizemore.
Story – The story is what the audience of the crime genre will enjoy, it has the fallen cop who must solve the case that has haunted him for years, this is all by the book and has twists coming in it which you might see coming in places but does have enough to keep us guessing too.
Action/Crime/Mystery – The action sequences are good car chases which are still slightly iconic now, the crime story is all about how cops track killers and not everyone believes everything which does play into the mystery needing to be solved.
Settings – We start in the big city but move to the countryside which shows the different worlds that Tom must live through to prove his beliefs.
Final Thoughts – This is an enjoyable crime mystery that will keep you guessing till the end, it has solid action sequence you can enjoy even if they are slightly barmy at times.
Overall: Good crime mystery.
Rating
