The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 95 Days to go: 64
Movie #345: Lethal Weapon
God, remember the days before Mel Gibson was a disgusting anti-Semite? When Lethal Weapon came out and he was the sexy wild card? Those were good times.
Lethal Weapon is the quintessential buddy cop movie. You’ve got the straight-laced old-timer Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) partnered with the aforementioned wild card Martin Riggs (Gibson) and the sparks fly as their very different personalities and police styles come up against each other in the course of working their cases. Lots of different films have employed the formula before and since, but Lethal Weapon — with its combination of ’80s flash and grit, plus its highly memorable lines — is probably one of the best. It’s definitely one of my favorites.
The movie opens with what would turn out to be a typical move in crime dramas as a beautiful, nearly naked woman gets up from bed, does some drugs, and winds up dead (this one by attempting to fly out her window). The case leads them back to Roger’s old Vietnam buddy and to a heroin ring with a heavy named Joshua (Gary Busey, who maybe went method for the role and never came back from it). There are lots of shootouts, lots of witty repartee, a wet and shirtless martial arts battle on Murtaugh’s front lawn, freakin’ Darlene Love rocking my world as a strong black wife and mother at least as good as Claire Huxtable, and several opportunities for Murtaugh to say, “I’m too old for this shit.” It’s pretty great.
Both Glover and Gibson play older than their actual ages in the roles of Murtaugh and Riggs, both characters having fought in Vietnam and Murtaugh opening the movie celebrating his fiftieth birthday. I find it interesting because usually it’s women playing much older than their actual age (usually playing the mom of someone maybe eight years their junior). I suppose, though, that back in the Eighties it would’ve been harder to find actual ~37 and 50 year-olds in such great shape.
The film is definitely more flash than substance, focusing a lot of its energy at the question of whether or not Riggs is actually insane, and giving him a lot of opportunities to act like a maniac — distracting guys with a Three Stooges bit, for instance, or jumping off a building handcuffed to a suicidal man. He also withstands electro-shock water torture to straight up murder his assailant with his thighs. The actual plot of the movie — their primary case — is secondary. However — and this is brilliant — to address the fact that the writers have barely formulated a coherent case for these detectives to solve, Murtaugh and Riggs repeatedly joke about how “thin” their suppositions are. It’s like, “We know this movie doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but just go with it because we’re having a lot of fun.”
And it is a lot of fun. Lethal Weapon is just about everything one might want in a summer popcorn flick (forget that it was released in March). It’s silly and funny and also hard-hitting and tough. It even has a whole spiel about how men of the ’80s are sensitive instead of tough. It’s like fun for the whole family! (As long as the whole family can watch a rated R film.)
Viable Option 