wgranger Review of The Presidio

The Presidio (1988)

A predictable hackneyed detective drama better left to television

[5/10 · 30 October 2006]

This movie has all the makings of a grade B TV police show except for some exceptional actors in the form of Sean Connery, Meg Ryan, Mark Harmon and Jack Weston, who do an excellent job bringing some belief to their roles. In fact this is my number one complaint about the movie: unbelievability. I can accept the basic premise of two characters who dislike each other being forced to work together to solve a crime. That one of them has a beautiful daughter in the form of Meg Ryan starts the ball of disbelief rolling. Meg forces Mark Harmon to chase her in a classic Corvette convertible, driving like a maniac. Who would treat a classic car that way? When the men begin to work together, we hear such original lines as "you can ride along with me if you like" and "Why don't we stop for some coffee?" Yeah, right, two guys who really hate each other. (Was there a strike of the Writer's Guild during this movie?) But there's more: The officer who caused the falling out between the lead characters just happens to be a major suspect now and bad guy. The Medal of Honor character (Jack Weston) who is the best friend of Sean Connery turns out to be a bad guy, but finds his conscience in the end. Jay Austin (Mark Harmon) goes from MP to SFPD detective. (What a meteoric rise.) And he just happens to be uninvolved with any other female when he meets Meg Ryan. (Well, I guess this is San Francisco.) Even the underlying plot begs belief. The murder of the female MP was caused by the diamond smuggler leaving the diamonds at the Presidio's Officer Club, then breaking in at night to retrieve them. However, the water bottle that held the diamonds had a special holder. How could one be so careless? Did the MP really have to die in the first place?