Rent-a-Cop (1988)

One of my all time favorites.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

A Brilliant Conflict

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

In 1981, Burt Reynolds did a movie called SHARKEY'S MACHINE. He played a cop who is demoted to the vice squad after a shootout with a drug dealer results in several deaths. In RENT-A-COP, he plays a cop who is reduced to working as a security guard when a masked killer botches a drug bust and kills his fellow police officers. In the former movie, Burt watches a hooker, played by Rachel Ward, whom he hopes will help him nab a crimelord. In the latter movie, a hooker, played by Liza Minnelli, joins forces with Burt to track down the killer. Both of these movies co-starred Bernie Casey. The plots of both movies seem familiar, and Liza is not really believable as a hooker, but RENT-A-COP is just one of those Eighties movies that is far more fun to watch on TV rather than the big screen.

I was sick one day and was skimming channels and I came upon this terribly rank movie. The plot and even the subplots (if you can find one) have been done to extinction. BUT, as bad as the story was, I reserve a special comment for Liza Minelli. Her character was absolutely one of the most annoying characters I have ever has the misfortune of seeing on film. Her only two competitors in this category are John Leguziamo in "The Pest" and Julia Stiles in anything she's done (or half-done). Maybe she performed exactly as the script suggested or maybe (groan!) that is the limit she has to her acting range. Either way, they should have had a rewrite and killed her off in the first 30 seconds of the film (eg. Like the girl that fell off the balcony in Lethal Weapon (I) (but at least she had nice breasts))Most Humbly Submitted...Douglas Neidermeyer

This 1988 movie was shown recently on a cable channel. We wanted to see another film, which supposedly was starting, but because a mix up, Rent-a-Cop, was shown in that time slot. Never having seen it when it was commercially released, we took a chance at it. Bad decision.One wonders what possessed the people behind the picture to go ahead with "Rent-a-Cop", or how they sold it to the studio behind the distribution. It appears this movie misfired big time. This film doesn't add anything new to its genre. It's totally predictable, as once the basic premise is shown, we know how it will end.Burt Reynolds plays a wooden Church. This actor can do better, but who knows what was going on behind the scenes, or perhaps the direction given to him by Jerry London, had the opposite effect. Mr. Reynolds has one expression throughout the movie. He just doesn't register any emotion at all.Lisa Minnelli, as the hooker who witnessed the original slaughter at the Chicago hotel, makes no sense at all. The romance between her Della and Church seems phony from the beginning. She and Mr. Reynolds play one dimensional characters.Don't waste your time with this turkey.

This disgusting combination of violence and cheap jokes has to be avoided, unless you are a devoted Liza Minnelli fan... like me. Liza has this very personal acting style (a nervous kind of energy) you either love or hate. I think it´s great, and it almost turns trash like Rent-a-cop into something watchable. For the real Liza experience, watch ´Sterile Cuckoo´ or ´Cabaret´.