Dragnet - Mankiewicz, 1987

The only reason I even mention this movie is because it is interesting to contrast the director's career with those of his more famous father's and uncle's. Joseph L. Mankiewicz (pere) was one of Hollywood's best writers for decades, and he also proved to be a very capable director. He wrote and directed one masterpiece: All About Eve (10), and produced another: The Philadelphia Story (9). He started writing titles for silent films in the 1920's, and either wrote, directed, or produced up until 1972, when he directed Sleuth (6). He's clearly a Hollywood icon and one of its most talented and versatile.

Joseph's brother Herman, also had a stunning movie career. Although he primarily just worked as a writer, he penned (or helped write) some huge films, including Citizen Kane (10), and The Wizard of Oz (8).

On the other hand, Joseph's son (and Herman's nephew) Tom has a thankfully small number of credits over an unfortunately long career. Like his dad he was a writer/director/producer and even creative consultant, but the list of films he worked on gives us names like Superman II (1), Ladyhawke (2), and Dragnet.

Tom Hanks has some embarrassing performances during his career, but this one has to rank as one of the worst. Dan Aykroyd has plenty of trash on his resume, but even he must cringe a bit when he thinks back on this one.

The premise actually had promise because the old Dragnet TV series had plenty of semi-non-intentional comedic moments. I can vividly remember as a kid watching the (I think first) episode, where Joe Friday listens to a hippie with his face painted two colors freaking out on LSD (which was new as a recreational drug and not yet illegal): "on the train, on the train, on the train... I am the chair, I am the chair, I am the chair". It was great stuff. The contrast between the straight-laced Jack Webb and Harry Morgan and 1960's LA was full of humorous moments, particularly when Friday would fill us in on the latest street slang terminology. Unfortunately, translating that to the 1980's completely failed. A 2 rating.