Striking Distance (1993)

Detective Tom Hardy (Bruce Willis) grows up in the family of cops. Hardy turns against his uncle Captain Nick Detillo (Dennis Farina), since he believes that he's protecting somewhere who's corrupted and fighting him since the death of his dedicated Lt. Vince Hardy (John Mahoney). When Hardy's cousin Jimmy (The late Robert Pastorelli) committed suicide from jumping off a bridge. Since Hardy knew there was something wrong with his cousin. Since Hardy's get fired from his job believing that a cop has murder womens in the streets of Pittsburgh but he can't prove it. Months has passed, now Hardy works for the boat patrol for the city. He's forced to work with a young by the book officer Jo (Sarah Jessica Parker) as his new partner. Which Hardy prefers to be alone. When Hardy is called on the crime scene to the river to discover that the latest murders are woman, which Hardy knew before. Now the killer calls Hardy from his phone and he wants to play of Cat & Mouse with him. He has to find the next victim before it's too late, while the local police especially his uncle thinks that Hardy isn't right in the head.

Directed by Rowdy Herrington (Road House) made an watchable-thriller that tries to be suspenseful but overall the script is quite predictable sadly. The identity of the villain is too easy to guess for most viewers. Since Willis' was quiet disappointed with his experiencing working this forgotten thriller. But it is not boring, thanks to a strong cast that includes Tom Sizemore, The late Brion James, Andre Braugher and more that keeps this far from being boring. Willis tries to do something different with his role. But his scenes with the character Jo slows the movie down, especially when they start a romance. It is quite unintentionally funny at times and way over the top towards the conclusion. Herrington's previous picture "Road House" was much more fun to watch than this failed effort. "Striking Distance" is one of those films that certainly plays better on TV and fans of Willis' work might enjoy this movie much more than others. Check your brain out the door before watching it. (***/*****).

Fmovies: Just what you expect from Bruce Willis in that decade. He plays the character of drunken failure but always comes out on the good side.I enjoyed it from start to finish. V.good thriller of the 90's with good character personalities working off each other/ j. Parker gave it the romance feel and it worked well.

The film itself had v.good action sequences and the length of the film was probably just about right. The consistent negative feeling towards Hardy throughput the film from other cops adds to effort that he has to put in to prove he is right and gain vindication. This struggle allows the film to develop its journey. Thanks

Great support cast. Dialogue between Farina & Willis is as real as it gets. Irish vs Italian is always interesting. Needed more of those scenes. Some cliché movie lines but storyline hides the cheese. Location, Location, Location. All things being equal, I'd rather be in Philadelphia (right: Willis from Die Hard). I prefer Philly movies, but Pittsburgh is a great setting. Not NY. Not LA. I'll take it and it works. Every other profession has been glammed up by Hollywood so river police was a refreshing change.

Getting back to the cast, most of them are interchangeable with other actors. But there is no substitute for Dennis Farina as tough cop. He ad libs in his own way as well as Hackman & Matthau. If he's a non-smoker in real life, he should have won an Oscar for this role. This is one of those movies where the pre-quels would be just as action packed. Yeah I know the Episode IV thing has been done before in a galaxy far far away. But these characters would be interesting in their younger years.

Striking Distance fmovies. A cop receives phone calls wherein he hears the murders of young women perpetrated by a wily serial killer. Okay, the premise is not new. It is a bit reminiscent of the Zodiac killer, but only a bit. The truth is, only a big star like Willis could pull this one out of the $1 bin and set it upon the eye-level shelves. Fortunately, Willis and Sarah Jessica Parker manage to do just that.

This film is highly underrated and under-appreciated, and wrongly so. The performances by even the supporting cast (actors who are known for lesser films and lesser performances) are wonderful. No, I'm not trying to say this film is Oscar-worthy, but it IS highly entertaining. It properly generates atmosphere, and delivers upon generation.

All in all? I found this work entertaining and enjoyable.

It rates an 8.3/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Actually watched this on a bus ride home. Found myself entertained for once! Bruce Willis plays good cop Tom Hardy, who's convinced the police killed his dad and framed some poor sap. He opens his big mouth too often and they demote him to river duty! Tom is still on the job and now he's partnered with sexy diver Jo (Sarah Jessica Parker). They keep finding dead women and Tom realizes the killer is toying with him!

Tom and Jo hook up, and I actually found their romance quite charming, has SJP ever been bad in anything? She's a really good actress and looks great in this, and try to actually solve the murders, which angers his uncle, played by the underrated Dennis Farina. Even the chief, a ogre of a cop played by the terrific late character actor Brion James, just wants Tom to stay quiet. His cousin Jimmy, I couldn't believe that was Robert Pastorelli, the guy from "Murphy Brown" he was totally dissolved into the part, just seems like a wise-ass, but watch him.

The film is well paced and nicely shot, I liked that the Ohio river seemed smelly like in real life. Willis actually bothers to act here, though I understand he didn't like the film, and you won't see the killer coming.

Striking Distance is a good action flick, with an excellent cast. Its rated "R" for profanity and violence.

I caught this one on TV at about midnight, and I wasn't planning to see more than five minutes of it. I did (why would I write this comment if I didn't) and it kept my interest through the whole film. Bruce Willis and Sarah Jessica Parker were excellent together and the supporting cast was also outstanding.

Director Rowdy Herrington also brought us the awful A Murder of Crows (1999), but he didn't ruin this one, even if it did get a little far-fetched in places. An interesting plot line, and Willis is believable in his role.

+ (GOOD THINGS) 1.) Direction 2.) Chemistry between Willis and Parker 3.) Ending (unlike everyone else, I didn't see it coming) 4.) Length 5.) The score 6.) John Mahoney's performance

• (BAD THINGS) 1.) Believability 2.) The script (uneven in places)