The Taking of Beverly Hills

Sidney J. Furie – 1991 – USA
  

A big tongue-in-cheek action movie like many that came out in the wake of Die Hard (1988) about a regular guy caught up in the midst of a gigantic heist by a group of big-time terrorists.  Here, it’s disgruntled ex-L.A. cops who’ve evacuated all of Beverly Hills with a phony toxic spill in order to rob the houses at their leisure.  But wacky cop Matt Fewer and beefcake football star Ken Wahl manage to become a thorn-in-the-side of the bad guys.  As with similar films of the same year – like The Last Boy Scout or Harley Davidson & the Marlboro Man – it was clearly calculated to become a cult favorite even if it wasn't a huge hit, but in this case everything is really so forced that it becomes annoying.  Eccentric character details and endless wisecracks produce more groans than laughs, which can be fun in its own right I suppose.  It might have worked better in the hands of a more ironic director, but action journeyman Sidney J. Furie just trudges forward like he’s done this a million times and can handle it in his sleep.