In "Road House" director Rowdy Herrington's 1993 action-thriller "Striking Distance," Pittsburgh homicide detective Sergeant Thomas "Tom" Hardy (Bruce Willis) is on the trail of the "Polish Hill Strangler," a sadistic serial killer who taunts the police with the song "Little Red Riding Hood" just before he executes his latest victim, usually young, attractive, blonde-haired women.
This would make for an effective thriller all by itself, but co-screenwriters Herrington and Martin Kaplan throw in a twist or two in what is otherwise a solid, if unsurprising action film.
Hardy is a fifth-generation Pittsburgh cop, as his father Vincent "Vince" Hardy (the late John Mahoney) is the chief of the homicide division. After he is killed by the escaping Polish Hill Strangler following a rather thrilling car chase through the Pittsburg city streets, Tom's uncle Nick (the late Dennis Farina) and Vince's brother becomes the new homicide chief.
Tom's cousins (and his Uncle Nick's sons) Jimmy (the late Robert Pastorelli) and Danny (Tom Sizemore) are also cops. Tom has just testified against Jimmy, who is also his partner, in a police brutality trial that not only results in his conviction, but his suicide, as well. And because Tom testified against his late, disgraced cousin, he has become an outcast from his fellow officers; fellow detective Eddie Eiler (the late Brion James) harbors particular personal animosity toward him. Further complicating the situation, Hardy has also been insisting all along that the Polish Hill Strangler is actually a cop, who remains at large.
Because of Tom's latter claims about the potential true identity of the Polish Hill Strangler being a fellow police officer - based on clues that almost everyone else seems entirely unwilling to believe, and the fact that another man has already been caught, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for the Polish Hill Strangler killings and the murder of his father - Tom is demoted to the Pittsburgh Police Department's River Rescue Squad, where he has been working for the past two years following the deaths of his father and cousin Jimmy.
Tom is given a new partner, Jo Christman (a pre-"Sex and the City" Sarah Jessica Parker), who eventually becomes his only real friend (and later, his love interest) as the pair embark on an unauthorized investigation into a new string of serial murders that Tom believes are the work of the Polish Hill Strangler, who appears to be back after a two-year period of inactivity. The difference, this time, is that the killer is specifically targeting women with a personal connection to Hardy, and he himself later comes under suspicion for the crimes - which doesn't look good for him since he is already estranged from most of his fellow officers, family, and friends.
"Striking Distance" reportedly endured a difficult production, which included multiple re-shoots, star Bruce Willis's ego-run-amok, his poor treatment of Herrington, frequent script changes, and a few awkwardly acted dramatic moments. None of this is really apparent in the final version of the film, which is actually quite solid and entertaining - if ultimately it's nothing special and you can spot some of the twists coming if you're astute enough. Willis, even if he was reportedly quite difficult to work with (as was his reputation at the time, and even earlier, for being a smart-aleck who didn't like to take directions), delivers an engaging performance as a good honest cop who remains true to his convictions even if in the end it's cost him several close personal relationships.
"Striking Distance" also has a nice pace, and a few genuinely thrilling moments, including the opening car chase and the mystery surrounding Hardy and Jo's investigation into the current string of Polish Hill Strangler murders.
"Striking Distance" does deliver what it promises - Bruce Willis as a maverick cop, and an interesting, if standard, by-the-numbers and unsurprising mystery-thriller plot. It doesn't offer anything more than that, and sometimes that's a good thing.
6/10.
This would make for an effective thriller all by itself, but co-screenwriters Herrington and Martin Kaplan throw in a twist or two in what is otherwise a solid, if unsurprising action film.
Hardy is a fifth-generation Pittsburgh cop, as his father Vincent "Vince" Hardy (the late John Mahoney) is the chief of the homicide division. After he is killed by the escaping Polish Hill Strangler following a rather thrilling car chase through the Pittsburg city streets, Tom's uncle Nick (the late Dennis Farina) and Vince's brother becomes the new homicide chief.
Tom's cousins (and his Uncle Nick's sons) Jimmy (the late Robert Pastorelli) and Danny (Tom Sizemore) are also cops. Tom has just testified against Jimmy, who is also his partner, in a police brutality trial that not only results in his conviction, but his suicide, as well. And because Tom testified against his late, disgraced cousin, he has become an outcast from his fellow officers; fellow detective Eddie Eiler (the late Brion James) harbors particular personal animosity toward him. Further complicating the situation, Hardy has also been insisting all along that the Polish Hill Strangler is actually a cop, who remains at large.
Because of Tom's latter claims about the potential true identity of the Polish Hill Strangler being a fellow police officer - based on clues that almost everyone else seems entirely unwilling to believe, and the fact that another man has already been caught, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for the Polish Hill Strangler killings and the murder of his father - Tom is demoted to the Pittsburgh Police Department's River Rescue Squad, where he has been working for the past two years following the deaths of his father and cousin Jimmy.
Tom is given a new partner, Jo Christman (a pre-"Sex and the City" Sarah Jessica Parker), who eventually becomes his only real friend (and later, his love interest) as the pair embark on an unauthorized investigation into a new string of serial murders that Tom believes are the work of the Polish Hill Strangler, who appears to be back after a two-year period of inactivity. The difference, this time, is that the killer is specifically targeting women with a personal connection to Hardy, and he himself later comes under suspicion for the crimes - which doesn't look good for him since he is already estranged from most of his fellow officers, family, and friends.
"Striking Distance" reportedly endured a difficult production, which included multiple re-shoots, star Bruce Willis's ego-run-amok, his poor treatment of Herrington, frequent script changes, and a few awkwardly acted dramatic moments. None of this is really apparent in the final version of the film, which is actually quite solid and entertaining - if ultimately it's nothing special and you can spot some of the twists coming if you're astute enough. Willis, even if he was reportedly quite difficult to work with (as was his reputation at the time, and even earlier, for being a smart-aleck who didn't like to take directions), delivers an engaging performance as a good honest cop who remains true to his convictions even if in the end it's cost him several close personal relationships.
"Striking Distance" also has a nice pace, and a few genuinely thrilling moments, including the opening car chase and the mystery surrounding Hardy and Jo's investigation into the current string of Polish Hill Strangler murders.
"Striking Distance" does deliver what it promises - Bruce Willis as a maverick cop, and an interesting, if standard, by-the-numbers and unsurprising mystery-thriller plot. It doesn't offer anything more than that, and sometimes that's a good thing.
6/10.