Collision Course (1989)

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1. 

   floatsuit

   This sucks 3 years 7 months ago
2. 

   VonStupp

   I really wanted to enjoy Collision Course, as it was labeled a not-very-good, low budget crime investigation, featuring two mismatched 1980’s celebrities. Normally for me, this is a solid-gold set-up for weekend entertainment. I tried to love it, but sometimes a not-very-good buddy cop movie is truly a not-very-good buddy cop movie. In the end I liked it but wanted much more.
   
   A movie of this sort usually works for me if it has: 1. a decent plot-driven investigation, which this movie has two, 2. humorously polar-opposite cops following a mindless trail of clues, or 3. an array of colorful, supporting characters to take your mind off of the ineffectiveness of # 1 & #2. Collision Course by all rights should be a success for me, even from a so-bad-it’s-good vibe.
   
   At first I really dug Jay Leno and Ernie Hudson as not-playing-by-the-rules robbery detectives. A great introductory scene establishes Leno’s wise-cracking ways and they actually have a good working relationship with appropriate cop banter and hijinks. But then, Ernie Hudson virtually disappears and we get Pat Morita (he does the same shtick from The Karate Kid complete with broken English) who is serious and grim without being wise, silly and moronic without being funny, empathetic and kind without feeling like a real friend. Pat Morita’s character in The Karate Kid is loveable, earnest, and funny, but in Collision Course he is unpredictable of mood, whether drunk or sober, and never quite gels. Jay Leno, by the midway point of the movie, loses his wise-cracking ways for serious police work, minus a barb or two, and the movie loses its hope of carrying the rest of the runtime with interesting characters.
   
   There are really two investigations going on: Jay Leno is stepping on homicide’s toes by investigating his friend’s death and Pat Morita is sent from Tokyo to find a secret, stolen automobile turbocharger, the latter being the most uninteresting plot-driven MacGuffin as soon as it is mentioned. On realizing there were going to be two investigations, despite the lame turbocharger, I was excited (I watch non-stop Law & Order after all); but the impetus of Jay Leno’s murdered friend is mainly forgotten and the search for the turbocharger is on, leaving the movie to uninspired characters and a plot device I was not digging.
   
   This leaves supporting characters to save the day: Chris Sarandon as the mustachioed bad guy, Tom Noonan as the crazy, bald henchman, John Hancock as the angry homicide chief, Al Waxman as the disinterested homicide detective, and Randall “Tex” Cobb as the hairy, crazy, scary henchman. This movie delivers in overboard-supporting characters, and while they raise the energy of the movie anytime they appear, they are featured too little, too late. Even the great car chase through Detroit did not save this movie in my eyes.
   
   I wanted to love, or at least really like this movie, but in the end I just liked it enough. Reading the above criticisms might lead you to believe that I hated sitting through Collision Course, but it has some redeeming values to avoid total dislike. There are two or three laugh-out-loud bits with two idolizing security guards, courteous bowlers at a bowling alley, and stock police characters at headquarters, in addition to a quality car chase featuring Detroit locales, excellent supporting character actors, and a promising opening with Leno and Ernie Hudson that just didn’t pay off. In the end I liked it, but to me, I wanted to like Collision Course a lot more, making it all the more disappointing in my eyes. I am glad I gave it go, but probably not recommended for most. Recommend: Watch Red Heat 9 years 3 months ago
3. 

   thesplatt

   This might be the greatest film ever made. Mr Miyagi, Jay Leno. Every cliché an '80s film and buddy cop movie can have. Forgotten gem! 9 years 9 months ago

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