The Dead Pool

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Patricia Clarkson, Liam Neeson, Jim Carrey
Directed by: Buddy Van Horn
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Action, Thriller
1988

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Detective Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) investigates a strange game where people bet on which celebrities will die first. When the celebrities on one list start dying, Callahan tries to get to the bottom of the murders, especially because his name is last on the list.

Review:

Tim: The last ride of Harry Callahan ends the terrific cop franchise on a strong note. This film turns the series in a different direction, but the same old "Dirty Harry" is here. It is interesting that Harry's difficulty with authority is downplayed quite a bit here. Instead, the focus is more on the nature of the crime. To be fair, the whole "dead pool" is very interesting, at least until the story gets too deep into the mystery's explanations.

Clint Eastwood is excellent as always. Callahan is such a great character and Eastwood is so good at playing him. He's just so fun to watch. While I'd love to have seen more Dirty Harry movies made, this film is apparent why this is the last one- Eastwood is just getting too old. This is especially apparent in a few scenes where Eastwood is running and it is obvious that he is too old for these type of roles.

Liam Neeson is pretty decent in a small but somewhat meaningless role. He does keep us guessing, which is extremely important. Watch for a very small performance by Jim Carrey, which is actually pretty funny (but not for the reasons intended). I'm definitely not a Patricia Clarkson fan, and she didn't do anything for me here. She's been worse, however.

By this point, you should know the Harry Callahan formula by heart- bad guys commit crimes, Harry blows them away. The real reason to see this film isn't to watch something original or novel, but moreso for nostalgic purposes- to watch Harry take on one last case and do what he does best. This film concludes one of the best cop franchises of all time and more firmly sets "Dirty" Harry Callahan up as one of the greatest film cops in movie history.


Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Dirty Harry, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact, Magnum Force