The only crucial element that made almost all Buddy Cop films in the 1980s was the success was to launch a popular stand-up actor in a police uniform. If it was Eddie Murphy In 48 hours. Or Billy Crystal In FrightenedThe funny genre knew how to shoot balls and rier at the same time. However, all the actors could not translate their stage character to the big screen, and Jay Leno learned that the way to the hard Collision course.
Planned from the premise East-Meet-West of Rush hour At 11 years old, The 1989 action comedy was the perfect example of the film Buddy Cop went wrong. Directed by the director of companion Lewis Teague (Of which,, The jewel of the Nile),, Collision course capitalized on Morita bedthe popularity of Karate The franchise as a Japanese cop corresponding alongside a future NBC host The Tonight Show As a detective from Detroit Wisecracking. He was published directly on video in 1992, after his studio, Deg Entertainment Group, fell bankrupt shortly after the end of the production. Between its cultural insensitivity and its TV production values, Collision course was the first and last attempt of Leno of a film career.
What is “race” is talking about?
The detective of Detroit, Tony Costas (Leno), is called on a crime scene from Scracyard where the police discover the bodies of the Japanese car engineer Oshima (Danny Kymon One) and the director of the region. The latter victim was the ex-partner of Costas, who was killed by a rare rocket. But Oshima’s death alerts Japanese police and affects Inspector Fujitsuka Natuso (Morita) to go to the United States to recover the prototype of the dead engineer for a high concept turbocharger.
After the arrest of Costas, Natuso for having broken into the Hotel Chamber of Oshima, the Detroit and Japanese police said to the two cops to completely retreat the case. What starts like Costas and Natuso distrusting each other, quickly evolves in a partnership once they discovered that the turbocharger was about to be sold to an American car manufacturer under the thumb of the boss of Detroit Madras crime (Chris Sarandon). Together, the two cops will have to go through the tastes of the henchman with Madras firearms (Tom Noonan) and brutal Kosnic (Randall “Tex” COBB) to find the turbocharger before the bad guys.
Like another comedy on the shock of American / Japan culture, Ron Howard‘s Drip,, Collision course highlights the tension between the two countries in the context of the flickering industry in Detroit and the technologically advanced Japanese industry. The conflict is reflected in the dynamics of Leno and Morita, where the American cop is proud of his approach in blue collar of the work of the police while the Japanese cop respects the rules with self -discipline. As deep as the subject could have been with a better script, Collision course sticks to a friend’s formula to lead comedy, while Drip adopted the comic approach to the confrontation of culture to bring the truth about the opposing history of learning each other. Aside from the jokes on the Japanese words of Morita and the lessons of the American history shorted on Sears of Leno, no character in Collision course undergoes any real change through their respective arcs.
“ Race collision ” plays like an invented television cop emission driver
Buddy films of the 80s have often played in Push-And-Pull chemistry between a serious actor being the hetero man and an actor triggering fun jokes. One of Collision courseThe biggest problems are the fact that it presents two experienced actors, and none is listed. Before its global renown in KarateMorita was a established stand-up comic strip that made appearances on guests on Happy days. As much as Morita tries to keep the silent force of Mr. Miyagi, his role as Natsuo is often played like the ass of stereotypical jokes on the misunderstanding of the American slang or getting drunk with Leno to teach him to talk about the Japanese. Contrary to Jackie Chan kick and have fun doing it Rush hourMorita spends the majority of Collision course Fouting of Leno in the first half and exchanging combat in the second. He even laughs at his role nominated in the Oscars in a bowling straw fight with COBB by making fun of Kata moves before being thrown aside.
Leno’s popularity increased at the time of Collision courseproduction by being a frequent guest host of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson Before resuming the show in 1992. He tried to follow the same sloppy detective approach to Nick Nolte In 48 hours. And James Belushi In Red heat: Alcoholic, lives alone in a disorderly apartment and constantly collides with his bosses. Although Leno has funny refined songs where he uses his badge to get women’s phone numbers during the investigation, his jokes often feel deaf, and his emotional beats fall flat. Leno’s relaxed television star is simply not translated into a cinematographic head man.
Even if Leno and Morita could generate strong chemistry on the screen, Collision course suffers from teague, which makes it less cinematographic than 48 hours. And more like an invented television cop program pilot. Based on its curriculum vitae in horror and action, Teague is not an expert in the realization of comedies. Nothing in the film feels inspired because of the script featuring unidimensional bad guys played by Sarandon and Noonan, a role of a disposable acolyte for the always reliable Ernie HudsonAnd nothing other than racially insensitive humor. The worst offender of all is Al Waxman As a Leno cop, the cop, which questions Morita using business of Japanese food and cars to make fun of his knowledge of the language.
Overall, Collision course is an obsolete attitude of a film that has not made the case so that Leno can do it in the films. He learned this lesson well because the appearances of cameo he made in following films like Dave And Flints allowed The Tonight Show Host to play his best role: himself.
