The 1980s saw no bigger name in comedy than Dan Aykroyd. The SNL alum had starring roles (along with assisting in the writing of the scripts) for numerous comical blockbusters such as “The Blues Brothers,” “Ghostbusters” and “The Great Outdoors.” Wanting to simultaneously pay homage as well as to parody a historical police TV series, Aykroyd co-wrote the script for the 1987 movie “Dragnet.”
As a young child at the time, I was a pioneer in the field of illegally downloading music. I would spend hours holding my Emerson single deck cassette player up to the gigantic box tube television set and record songs playing on MTV (a channel that used to show music videos). In effort to promote the movie, MTV was dishing out heavy doses of a rap style parody song called “City of Crime” (comically performed by Aykroyd and “Dragnet” co-star Tom Hanks). For some reason I thought it was the greatest thing ever and used to listen to it over and over again. Twenty-seven years later, I finally saw the movie that it was showcasing.
“Dragnet” plays out like the TV series with detective Joe Friday (Aykroyd) doling out a listless and dry narration of the events. From the start it’s evident that Friday is a by-the-books detective who lives to honor his badge and devoutly serve the city of Los Angeles, doing whatever it takes to keep crime off the streets. “Even in the City of Angels, from time to time, some halos slip.” Friday explains.
Friday is quickly introduced to his new partner Pep Streebek (Hanks) who is the total opposite in terms of personality and mannerisms. While Streebek is off-the-cuff and aloof, Friday can’t grasp the concept of a simple joke. The two must learn to work together to stop a cultish group of criminals referred to as P.A.G.A.N. while the city is under attack from an overly pious televangelist, the Reverend Jonathan Whirley (Christopher Plummer).
In typical 80s style, “Dragnet” is ripe with silliness. While jokes are plenty and often amusing, the gist of the story fails to hold up. Aykroyd and Hanks are funny as they typically are, but after forty minutes of Friday’s emotionless dialogue where he recites various criminal codes he has committed to memory and demonstrates a complete inability to show empathy, and Streebek’s constant tomfooleries, you’ll understand why “Dragnet” doesn’t have the staying power of other 80s films. Even the PAGAN organized crime outfit is ridiculous in every way.
One thing “Dragnet” does do is serve as a turning point for the notoriety of its two stars. While Aykroyd’s career continues to this day, his mainstream popularity and success seemed to be left behind in the decade of the 80s. In 1987, Hanks was a then up-and-coming comedy actor who had appeared in several low-end comedies throughout the ’80s like “Splash” and “The Money Pit.” Silly roles continued for a few years with the likes of “Big” and “Joe Versus the Volcano” before Hanks would become a Hollywood elite and multiple Academy Award winning star with legendary films “Philadelphia,” “Forrest Gump,” “Apollo 13” and ‘Saving Private Ryan” just to barely scratch the surface.
“Dragnet” has some laughs but in the end, it doesn’t compare to other films of the era. Check out the video for “City of Crime,” which is equally as funny – and 100 minutes shorter.
by – Matt Christopher
