Heart Condition
Movie #2
Date Released: 2.2.1990
Date Watched: 6.1.2020
Reaction:
This isn’t a bad movie. Another movie about cops, another movie about racism and racial disparity. I’m sensing something was on Hollywood’s mind in the early 1990’s. And, once again, the fact that such serious themes were handled so lightly in this ‘comedy’, clearly showed that America wasn’t ready for this topic. However, this movie has it all out there. White cop shooting at black attorney who has not committed a crime. Same white cop uses the N word. Not surprisingly, he is punished but still has his place--this is an openly racist cop--on the police force.
Now let me tell you about the plot.
A racist white cop, portrayed hammily but very well by Bob Hoskins, has a heart attack and needs a heart transplant ASAP to survive. As coincidence would have it, he receives the heart of a black attorney (played fantastically by Denzel Washington--mostly as his own ghost) who just died. The two have a history together, mostly of the cop harassing the attorney, which has to do with race but also has to do with a somewhat nonlinear love triangle. Attorney appears to the cop as an apparition that only he can see, although the ghost can exert physical force on the cop’s body. The attorney claims he has actually been murdered as part of a political coverup and the two work on solving the case together. Bonds form, surprises occur.
Overall, the themes of this movie make it almost impossible to be funny. The movie does have a lot of heart and is well acted, primarily by the lead actors, Hoskins and Washington. I don’t think there was a moment I actually laughed or even chuckled during the movie, but it’s too light to call it anything other than a comedy. There were a couple physical gags and one or two bon mots shot off by Hoskins’ character. But don’t expect a laugh riot.
Great acting, particularly Denzel Washington
Plot has potential but is not developed well
Not very funny
Themes are very relevant to today, in terms of racism and police, but this movie does not attempt to show a clear path forward unless the recommendation is that if we replace all racist white cops’ hearts with black people’s hearts, they may eventually reform
Publishing notes:
Again, these blurbs will get a lot shorter in time
It’s a bit of a shame I stopped writing longer reviews, but that’s the way it is
Living in Minneapolis during the pandemic and the George Floyd murder and aftermath, it is clear that this situation was on my mind when watching these movies. Snapshot in time.
