Review of The Presidio (1988) by Pia K — 11 Dec 2013

At the Presidio Army base in San Francisco, MP Patti Jean Lynch (Jenette Goldstein) is shot dead while investigating a break-in on the base and a San Francisco police officer is killed in the getaway. Jay Austin (Mark Harmon), a San Francisco police inspector, is sent to investigate. He clashes with Lieutenant Colonel Alan Caldwell (Sean Connery), the base Provost Marshal. Years ago, Austin and Lynch were partners in the MPs and Caldwell was their commanding officer. When Austin arrested Colonel Paul Lawrence (Dana Gladstone), Caldwell didn't support him. In the aftermath, Austin was demoted and decided to get discharged from the army. Austin and Caldwell since share a mutual dislike for one another. The murder investigation now casts suspicion on Lawrence. Lynch was killed with a Russian Tokarev. Lawrence is the registered owner of a Tokarev, but claims he lost it in a poker game. Austin and Caldwell ends up taking the lead in the investigation that seems to have all sorts of surprising clues and twists...

"The Presidio" is on one hand a kind of classic Peter Hyams vehicle, with some serious fast paced action, but at the same time the plot/storyline is a bit too thin for being a fully satisfying Hyams movie. The love story between Austin and Donna feels more like a filler than an actual plot builder. Thus the triangle father/daughter/boyfriend takes up a bit too much screen time in my point of view and the crime story becomes a bit lost. Harmon is ok as Austin, but he´s never really been a leading man. Connery is not too shabby as Caldwell. And Meg Ryan is just that lovely Meg Ryan I fell in love with back in the 80s. I did read that Kevin Costner was actually signed for the Mark Harmon part before departing the project, much to the disappointment of Connery who had hoped to re-team with his costar from "The Untouchables". For me that would have been a lot more interesting choice for sure.