Rent-a-Cop

1988 "Deadlier than Dirty Harry, faster than Cobra"
4.6| 1h32m| R| en| More Info
Released: 15 January 1988 Released
Producted By: Kings Road Entertainment
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Detective Tony Church is forced to retire and become a store rent-a-cop when his drug sting operation comes to a tragic end by a masked killer. He joins forces with a prostitute, the only one able to identify the killer, to bring him to justice.

Genre

Action, Comedy, Crime

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Director

Jerry London

Production Companies

Kings Road Entertainment

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Rent-a-Cop Audience Reviews

BlazeLime Strong and Moving!
Micitype Pretty Good
AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,
Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
adonis98-743-186503 When call-girl Della gets caught in the middle of a drug bust at a hotel where she was meeting a trick, she is held hostage by a robber that busted in on the drug agents and the drug dealers. She gets rescued by vice cop Church who is accused of staging the aborted bust. Despite the 2 famous actors as the leads 'Rent-a-Cop' fails to impress and unfortunately is one of those by the numbers 80's films that mostly everyone will forget than actually remember and this one is definitely on that category and the silly storyline and dialogue can't save it for sure. (0/10)
lost-in-limbo Detective Frank Church resigns from his job when a drug bust goes wrong with the blame being put on him, as he survived along with prostitute Della Roberts who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Della saw the face of killer and now finds herself a target. So she seeks help from the out-of-work Church. Burt Reynolds seems to have his fair share of nothing features and the late 80s crime-thriller "Rent-a-Cop" is hard not to categorise in that bracket, but still it can be amusing and at the same time overbearing. Thanks to the appearance of Liza Minnelli as a flamboyantly overactive hooker who just won't quit talking. She overpowers many scenes. Not helping the case is that the off-balance script is asinine. I just wished it kept on the straight and narrow, than throwing in some light-hearted touches and trite comedy elements. It can be violent pulp and the main killer (a terrifically threatening James Remar) is rather a cold-hearted maniac who has a noticeable costume get-up and deadly arsenal, although he does like to dance (swaying back-and-forth in front of a mirror) and a good dancer he is too. With a nickname Dancer, he must be. Burt Reynolds is pretty much on cruise-control and the chemistry with Minnelli just doesn't seem to click. Someone has already mentioned it, but its true that I couldn't get Reynolds 1981 cop-thriller "Sharky's Machine" out of my mind when watching this. Both films have similar plot threads and are staged in the windy city Chicago, but "Rent-a-Cop" felt like a self-parody of it. Also making appearances are Richard Masur, Bernie Casey and a stern John P. Ryan. Director Jerry London (who mainly does TV) surprisingly gives the film a certain crisp slickness, creating moments of suspense (like the glorified cat and mouse shootout climax that ends with someone losing their head) and uses the wintry urban Chicago backdrop to good affect. Jerry Goldsmith contributes the music score. Routine, clingy star vehicle."Read my lips. Don't screw around."
Andreas I love the music score, the relaxed jokes and the expected turns in the story. I have no idea how it did in 1987, but it is among my favorite cop comedies from the period. A little rip of off Beverly Hills Cop but I'm able to forgive them. It is among those I go back to watch again when I have forgotten it.The worst thing about it is the villains. None of them go down in history. No special features to mention on the DVD I got, which is crappy. However, I believe they could have created a lasting DVD audience if they had invested a little in the extra quality features.You can probably drop buying it if you're not likely to enjoy the genre, Minelli or Reynolds. If you can rent/borrow it cheap and are able to enjoy simple action/comedy from the eighties then pop the corn, relax and enjoy.
moonspinner55 Chicago cop Burt Reynolds is suspended after a sting operation goes terribly wrong; he turns in his badge but finds work playing bodyguard to hooker Liza Minnelli, who was a witness to the massacre that got Reynolds in hot water. Burt seems to be suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (he's barely present); however, vivacious Liza (too old, really, to be playing a busy prostitute) does manage to elevate this crime-drama with her personality alone, and the solid technical aspects of the production, not to mention a fine supporting cast and gritty locales, are also exceptional. While combining corny comedic asides, a very strange villain, and jarring bursts of violence, "Rent-a-Cop" is pretty much a mess--and professional critics snubbed it--yet it is entertaining enough and the two stars share some great chemistry (even with Burt so sleepy). **1/2 from ****