Week 24: Lethal Weapon
-Have a nice day
Lethal Weapon is not the greatest film of all time. Hell, it is not even the best action picture ever made. I thought I would go ahead and get that out of the way. That being said, there are few films that are a complete joy to watch from start to finish, regardless of how many times you've seen them. This is one of those pictures. You can't help but watch it with a dim-witted grin on our face. One might even call it a smirk.
There is something that is explored in this picture by Richard Donner (the great director of the original Superman) that so many countless films in the last decade or so have completely forgotten exists: a relationship. While Lethal Weapon is a "no holds barred action spectacle" with elaborate set pieces, these factors are not the point of the movie. Instead, we spend more of the time getting to know the characters- their situations, families, and personalities, than watching action. This creates a certain level of emotional investment in what we are watching. When Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) is hanging by his arms and getting tortured with electric shock we feel his pain, not because we are simply visualizing it, but because we care about the person getting tortured. I can count on one hand the number of action pictures that actually succeed in establishing characters we care about. Yes, the "buddy cop" genre has been endlessly parodied and reproduced- but for good reason. That particular genre has never been done better than in this picture. We believe that these cops are actually buddies; to be honest, by the end of the picture they are our buds as well.
The MacGuffin (irrelevant driving element) in movies like this is normally the plot itself, particularly in this type of 1980's action picture. The MacGuffin of Die Hard, for example, is that terrorists have taken over a building. Indiana Jones had the Ark of the Covenant, the Temple of Doom and the Holy Grail. These are all merely plot devices to show Bruce Willis shooting people or Harrison Ford with a whip. They work as a setup for mindless action sequences. This is not to say that this is a bad thing (Raiders of the Lost Ark, in many ways, is my favorite movie) as much as it is to say that the MacGuffin has become such a blatant mainstay in popular cinema that we fail to understand how to deal with a picture without one. Such is the case with Lethal Weapon and its sequels- the plot is really irrelevant.
Here is what matters. Sergeant Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) has just turned 50 years old. He shaves his beard because there is too much gray in it. He is obsessed with age and is constantly questioning retirement. One of the saga's recurring gags- the catchphrase of the series- is Murtaugh constantly griping that he is "told old for this shit." It’s a phrase that makes us smile while also getting to the heart of the character. Murtaugh has a loving wife (soul icon Darlene Love), three wonderful children, a house that no cop should be able to afford (which is explained in the sequels), and a boat. Murtaugh is the consummate family man, with strong values and a sense of integrity. His world is turned upside down when he is told he has a new partner.
That partner is Martin Riggs, the exact polar opposite of Murtaugh. Riggs is suicidal due to the death of his wife, and constantly on edge. Murtaugh has a clean, conservative haircut, suit, and tie. Riggs looks as if he has just rolled out of bed in nearly every scene. His hair is wild, his clothes sloppy. Murtaugh plays it by the book, but Riggs is the wild card. Riggs has been assigned to work with Murtaugh as a form of therapy due to his reckless behavior on the job. Many in the LAPD consider him insane. Until about an hour into the picture, we really don't blame them.
This is all formula, of course. The misfit pairing has always been popular entertainment- from Abbott and Costello to Martin and Lewis and The Odd Couple- we have seen this all before. Lethal Weapon is not necessarily about breaking new ground- it is a comfort food. It is inevitable that these two characters will end up getting over their head. By the end of the picture they end up in situations that involve heroin dealers, prostitutes, shoot outs, car chases, jumping off of buildings, torture, kidnapping and a destroyed home. I have not even really discussed the true MacGuffin of this picture, the villains played by Gary Busey and Mitch Ryan, because, frankly, I don't give a shit about the plot here. Suffice to say Riggs and Murtaugh uncover a conspiracy involving drugs and a lot of people are killed. That is not what the picture is about. To describe it in lengths here would be doing the film a disservice.
-Partners in the rain
What Lethal Weapon is about is chemistry- that feeling that you get when you see two people that are meant to be together. You can't quite put your finger on it; you just know it when you see it. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover have chemistry, plain and true. They work so well together that you never honestly feel like you are watching actors on a screen. They are not their off screen personas, but Riggs and Murtaugh. They fully transform themselves into their roles. I can not imagine them not being great friends in real life. It is such a complete joy watching their relationship develop and flourish in this film that we almost feel obligated to watch all of the sequels. This is what makes Lethal Weapon such a success- a great film. We care just as much about the scenes around the dinner table as we do with the scenes involving Riggs strangling a henchman with his feet. This is the best "buddy cop" movie I have ever seen because of this amazing level of chemistry. Ask yourself- can you imagine anyone else besides Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in these roles? I didn't think so. It almost seems sacrilegious.
That is not to say that Lethal Weapon is not an outstanding action picture- it is. Richard Donner is a master of seemlessly integrating elaborate set pieces into his pictures and this film is no exception. There are countless moments I could reference. At times it is almost like he is directing two pictures. The quiet, emotional scenes have resonance because Donner chooses to film them slowly and deliberately. There are no quick cuts and long stretches where the camera does not move at all. When the action kicks in the camera is constantly moving, panning and encircling our focal points. We really get to have our cake, and eat it too. There are wonderful shots of a helicopter in the desert and men jumping off buildings. Some of the most exhilarating scenes simply involve Gibson chasing after a speeding car on foot. These sequences are shot with such technical brilliance that they almost seem effortless. We get so sucked into the story that we fail to realize how wonderful the picture really is.
The best of these sequences involve a climactic fist-fight at the end of the film. Riggs and Mr. Joshua (Gary Busey) are having it out underneath a broken fire hydrant while about a dozen cops stand around and watch. This sequence is ridiculous and unnecessary, but we don't care- it is absolutely spellbinding. It is here we appreciate Donner as a master of action filmmaking. The sequence is sustained for about four minutes under surrealistic lighting, with water mixing with sweat and blood. It is intentionally shot slightly out of focus so that the two men sometimes blend together- both almost animalistic in their hatred of each other. It may be the best fight sequence I have ever seen because (I repeat myself) it is both technical and emotional.
I have written this review without really saying much about what happens in Lethal Weapon. I could digress about certain scenes- including an exceptional one where Riggs "talks a man down" from suicide. I could describe the way I smile when we see Riggs and Murtaugh compare gunslinging skills at the firing range. Time could be spent discussing the brilliance (and complete absurdity) of Michael Kamen and Eric Clapton's score. I could discuss how Gary Busey may be the worst actor whom has ever lived and why it doesn't matter in this movie. I could compare the action sequences to similar, probably technically better, scenes in the James Bond pictures. Like I said, these digressions would be irrelevant. Lethal Weapon is a better picture than any two Bond pictures put together. You see, James Bond didn't have a partner. That makes all the difference in the world.
Review and Analysis by Shaun Henisey
Cast and Credits:
Riggs: Mel Gibson
Murtaugh: Danny Glover
Mr. Joshua: Gary Busey
McCallister: Mitch Ryan
Captain Murphy: Steve Kahan
Trish: Darlene Love
Warner Bros pictures and Joel Silver productions present A Richard Donner Film. Screenplay by Shane Black.
Photographed by Stephen Goldblatt. Music by Michael Kamen and Eric Clapton.
Running Time: 107 minutes. Rated R for violence, nudity and language.