Review of Lethal Weapon (1987) by David C — 09 Jan 2015

Even a forgettable potboiler can become a great piece of entertainment if it brings together creative minds. Richard Donner's direction and Mel Gibson and Danny Glover's acting elevate "Lethal Weapon" into something more than the sum of its parts. Shane Black's script is polished and professional, largely free of extraneous elements or logical leaps. But the plot it conveys is as hackneyed as crime fare gets: a simple drug deal sloppily adorned with prostitutes. It has less flair and intrigue than a side mission in a "Grand Theft Auto" game. Happily, it's not where Black and Donner and Gibson place their focus.

Even people who have not seen "Lethal Weapon" know it as one of the first movies in which a mismatched pair of cops are thrust together and form an unlikely friendship. And even before this gimmick became one of the biggest clichés in entertainment, it was already corny and obvious. The characters are drawn in glaring, unambiguous colors: Gibson is incredibly temperamental and reckless, and Danny Glover is an equally-incredibly contented family man. Glover's birthday gathering around a bubble bath is ridiculous, but it's an efficient way to link his character in an instant to all things good and comfortable and domestic. We know what he's about before he utters a word. Gibson doesn't utter, he shouts maniacally, but his character is also defined through exaggerated imagery. He stands unflinching in a hail of bullets, then watches TV alone on Christmas with a bottle of scotch and a loaded gun. (Incidentally, count the TVs in this film. They're everywhere. And when one gets destroyed, another one turns up-twice!) Surely even Marlowe and Spade had more humanity than this cartoon-watching cartoon of a cop. But "Lethal Weapon" doesn't need Gibson to be real any more than it needs a great plot, because its focus is unwaveringly fixed on just one thing: the chemistry between the cops.

Donner is famous for infusing unreal characters with humanity. He brought out the sensitivity and aching in the Man of Steel. He's the perfect director to kindle the sparks that fly between Gibson and Glover. Donner ensures that one or both are always at the center of the action, which is not over when the bodies hit the floor or when the dust settles, but when Gibson and Glover share a quip and an affectionate look. As they grow closer, even the formless plot begins to coalesce around them, becoming an unlikely extension of their lives; after Glover and Gibson bond over their memories of Vietnam, it is revealed that the bad guys learned their tricks in Vietnam, too! When the prostitutes are finally out of the picture, Glover's beloved daughter steps into the sexualized victim role. It's absurd stuff, but very neatly and consciously done, and everyone involved commits to it in full.

Unfortunately, the film ends with a small misstep. Gary Busey's superhuman villain is a third wheel to Glover and Gibson's relationship. His final, vaguely martial-artsy fight with Gibson strains credulity without adding to the central drama of the cops' friendship and rebirth. Its manufactured excess is one last reminder, though, that "Lethal Weapon"'s filmmakers know how to jazz up a genre picture.