Metro
ON VIDEO NOW
Rating: R
Review Date: 08-01-97
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Michael Rapaport
Eddie Murphy is back as Scott Roper a hostage negotiator with that Murphy
style. He is entrusted to train the new hostage negotiator Kevin McCall
(Michael Rapaport). Together they set out in this "buddy cop" genre film
about the life of hostage negotiators.
Murphy shows some of the style that he possessed in 48 Hours but
a lot less of the comedic aspect of films like Beverly Hills Cop.
He is intent on avenging the death of his close friend from the force.
In the process he comes across one of the toughest negotiations he has
to deal with. It just happens that this negotiation is with his friend's
killer.
Michael Rapaport is excellent as Kevin McCall the young punk ex-SWAT member
that is teamed with Murphy to learn the ropes. And learn he does. He uses
the tactics that SWAT taught him and combines them with the tactics Murphy
teaches him to excel.
I like Eddie Murphy a lot. But this film was just an average effort. I
think that so much more could have been done with the story. This was a
plot that was ripe for a great story. This story however bogged down by
looking into Roper's love life for a good portion of the film. Roper's
girlfriend with her accent just seems real out of place in this film. She
is beautiful and has a promising career but it just didn't work with this
film. Instead of focusing so much on his love life, I think the film would
have been better served if it had spent more time developing the plot line
around what he does.
Murphy's one liners are great but anyone expecting The Nutty Professor
or Beverly Hills Cop amounts of humor should forget it. As I said
earlier look for the film to be more like 48 Hours and you won't
be disappointed. Overall however it was just slightly better than an average
film.
Grade: C+
Parents Guide: Metro is rated R mainly for violence and language.
The language is usually common to a lot of Murphy's films and may be too
raw at times in this one. There is one small shot of nudity towards the
end of the film as well. This should probably be viewed by older teens
and should definitely be prescreened before a decision on who should watch
it.