First they broke the law. Now they are the law.
They were on their way to jail. One black. One white. One blonde. One from the hood - Lincoln Hayes (Omar Epps), arson. One from money - Pete Cochrane (Giovanni Ribisi), robbery. And one from the streets - Julie Barnes (Claire Danes), assault. Three kids with nothing in common but the fact that Captain Adam Greer (Dennis Farina) needs them to go where the cops can't, infiltrating the seedy, drug-infested LA streets and nightlife. Working undercover. Mixing in with the hip crowd. Busting the parasites preying on the young. They have a few rules: no badges. No guns. No turning in other kids.
There's only one problem. A cache of drugs has disappeared from the police evidence locker and all signs point to dirty cops. Everyone is a suspect and the kids are outsiders in their own precinct. Now it's down to the adolescent squad to take it to the streets and solve the case their way. Solid.
The Mod Squad contemporises the premise of Aaron Spelling's successful television series - which debuted in 1968 and ran for four years, encompassing 100 episodes - with a 1970s sensibility.
Special Agent Matti
First they were on TV. Now they are in a movie that looks like it was made for TV.
The Mod Squad, despite its best intentions, never gets up past the TV level. The characters are ciphers, the situations are clichéd, the sets look like they're about to fall down. The squad are as cool and hip as The footy show. There are no surprises, no twists and only one tense moment. There are a couple of funny bits, mostly where the cast are talking about how clichéd it all is. It would be ironic if it wasn't true. But what else can you expect from a movie based on a TV show created by Aaron spelling?
M (Medium level violence, medium level coarse language, sexual references)
94 minutes (1:34 hours)
DVD rental: 18 October 2000
