The Mod Squad (1999)

"So you kids are, what? Some kind of mod squad or something?", 11 July 2018

Instead of doing jail time, three young hoodlums agree to go undercover to help the police.  The idea is that they can get into places where a normal cop would stand out like a sore thumb.  But when their commanding officer is murdered, the three would-be cops are immediately suspected.  They’ll have to work together to clear their names and find the real killer.

There’s really not much to say about The Mod Squad other than it’s one hot mess of a movie!  The plot is a total disaster. First, the premise is ludicrous. If these three were any good at undercover work, it might have made more sense.  However, they blow their cover almost immediately. Second, it’s all so dull. The just over 90-minute runtime drags more than it should There’s nothing that held my interest,  Long stretches of tedious dialogue and lifeless action. Third, and most importantly, the script is horribly predictable. It’s not very hard figuring out what’s going on and who the baddies are.  Plot points are telegraphed from the beginning. It’s one of the more poorly written scripts I’ve seen in a major, theatrically released film.

Too bad, really.  The Mod Squad should have set-up Claire Danes for a long, interesting career in films.  Coming off Little Women and Romeo & Juliet, she was primed to be the next big thing. But if you look at her filmography, it’s not hard to see what this movie did to her career.  Sure, she’s been successful, but she hasn’t been the big star she could and should have been. As for Danes’ costars, the less said the better. Epps proves he can’t act and Ribisi is uber-annoying.  Danes is the lone bright spot in what is otherwise a pitiful excuse of a movie.

3/10