Another Stakeout (1993)

Overrated and overhyped

An absolute waste of money

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Blistering performances.

A witness against the Mafia is being secretly held till the trial when an attempt on her life is made that kills several of her guards. She disappears and Bill and Chris are sent to, guess what? Another Stakeout. This one is arranged by the D.A.'s office and comes with Gina who is to keep an eye on them since the observation post is a vacation resort community in the home of a judge.And many times in the background, you can just make out John Badham trying to recapture the magic....The first Stakeout was a fresh, fun movie. It had a serious plot, but the comedy spark between the two leads made the film just that little more than a cop movie.Times must have been hard for the two stars and the director, because although the film is highly watchable, as soon as we get to the titular part of the film, it all seems to go downhill.Estevez and Dreyfuss are more or less separated for the majority of the film, and it's up to Rosie O' Donnell to try and get that chemistry from the first film. She doesn't.But the first twenty minutes is as good as the first film. There is an amazing explosion in the opening ten minutes, one that Jerry Bruckheimer should be envious of, and the initial chase scene with the two leads is as funny and as immature as you would expect.So the decision to separate the two is a little pointless, just as is the inclusion of Madeline Stowe returning to do nothing more than give Dreyfuss a little grief via the phone.But if you were a fan of the first film, there is a little bit of fun to be had...

So you made a film back in the day and it was a success both at the cinema and videoshop. The two stars of the movie are still big and can still pull in an audience, you yourself now have some swing within Hollywood and lets be honest...you need a new project to keep your career on a high-ish. What better way to do that than completely rehashing your successful movie by...errr completely remaking it all over again but in a different location and with a new star (for the time) to the roster.Yep so the plot is virtually the same as the first movie, no shame here folks. The dynamic duo are back again and instructed to go on another stakeout in a nice woody lakeside well to do area. They are watching out for a witness against the mafia (after a botched assassination) who may or may not be coming to this lovely house. But the funny thing is...wait for it...this time they have a female DA officer along with them to play husband and wife with Dreyfuss. That's not all, she's brought her huge rottweiler along too...ey up we're in for some mighty big laughs now! Did I mention the new DA officer is Rosie O'Donnell? well there you go. I ask you...can you think of anything better than this? really...how can this not be funny?Oh wait...its not funny in the slightest. Everything here has been dumbed down and made more family friendly basically, not that the original movie was an adult movie but this is just childish. Most of the plot now revolves around how silly this family unit can be with Estevez as the son, Dreyfuss as the dad and O'Donnell as the mum. Every scene is pretty much an embarrassing bumbling slapstick comedy routine with infantile dialog and clichéd predictable visual gags...some of which naturally revolve around the big dog. Literately nothing happens for the majority of the movie until the final long dinner sequence where there is lots more awful dialog. Heck even the action (if you can even call it that...which you can't) is weak as f*ck, its virtually a children's movie at times.Dreyfuss character seems to have been somewhat neutered this time around and doesn't have the same zest as before. Yes he is obviously an older character but the plot doesn't allow him to do anything. The same goes for Estevez, in the first movie he was pretty much a sidekick, here he has a little more to do admittedly but again its very lame and uninteresting really. Its nice to see Ferrer playing a bad guy again, haven't seen that for awhile, blast from the past. The only problem being like everything else its a very tame watered down role which has absolutely no bite about it. The bad guys in this movie are so uneventful I can hardly bring myself to call them bad guys, they're just a bit naughty and they wear black. As for O'Donnell well this was another time wasn't it, a different ear where O'Donnell was actually kinda big (in both senses...zing!). I guess she adds to the humour at times but her character just comes across like this sequel...not required, horseshoed in, crowbarred in, forced and pointless.I really don't know what Badham was trying to do here, you could have a sequel to this but going down this route was a huge error. Basically remaking it with one extra cop for comedy relief...oh and a big dog...pfft! I mean really, who wants to see Dreyfuss' character have relationship issues (again) with Stowe (from the first movie, must have needed rent money) whilst staking out Dennis Farina who does nothing. Then in the background Estevez is constantly moaning about having to shave his moustache off which appears to be the movies main gag. This literately is like watching an actual stakeout where nothing actually happens, I'm boring myself writing this!2/10

For a fluffy, middle-tier, buddy-cop action comedy. This movie is great. The comedy is truly funny, Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez work perfectly together and the story-line is just enough to keep you in your seat. Unfortunately, Rosie O'Donnell doesn't add much to it but you can't have a sequel without adding a character or it's just the same movie all over again.Besides his stature, Richard Dreyfuss is a damn good portrayer of a cop in a comedy. His mannerisms, his comedic timing, all the aspects required for the role seem to come easy to him but he's just too small a man to be throwing punches at guys twice his size in height and in girth. Unfortunate really, although I'm pretty sure he'd rather be remembered for his dramatic works anyhow...Basically, this is pretty much exactly what you would expect from a sequel to the original. A slightly less enjoyable effort with the same comedic buddy-cop pairing with the same adequate but not ground-breaking story-line. Lots of fun if you're not expecting anything you haven't seen before.But that's just my two scents. ;)

What a hidden treasure this movie is! Quite possibly the best sequel ever, though that MIGHT be a toss-up with Godfather 2.Richard Dreyfus is always a solid actor, but his work here really deserved an Oscar.Emelio Estevez might be best known for being Charlie Sheen's sane brother, but check out this movie and you'll be a life long Estevez fan, like I am.Of course, it goes without saying that this is the movie that made Rosie O'Donnell. Before this film, she was just a bit player. A stand-up comedienne. But this is where she made her mark. Even Donald Trump would agree that she's genius in this near-masterpiece of a movie.