Dog Watch

DOG WATCH (Video 1997)

BASIC PLOT: Charlie Falon (Sam Elliott) is an impudent, hard-nosed detective, who's seen to much on the streets of San Francisco. Now, his partner's been murdered, and he thinks he's taken care of the problem, but maybe it's his temper that's that's taken care of him. His new partner, Murrow (Esai Morales) is an Idealist, and has landed in a rabbit hole of corruption and murder. Can he survive the shadow world around him long enough to find out who his real enemies are?

WHAT WORKS: *Everything

*The score is perfect for a neo-noir! It has lots of steamy saxophone, it's a great background for this type of movie.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *Paul Sorvino has one monologue that doesn't work. It's a rant, and it seems contrived and forced.

*This movie needs a new name! "Dog Watch," tells you nothing about this movie, and makes you think it has to do with something else entirely.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *I would definitely recommend this movie to fans of neo-noir, Sam Elliott Esai Morales, and to people who don't need a happy ending.

CLOSING NOTES: *This is a Straight-to-Video movie, please keep that in mind before you watch\rate it. Straight-to-Video movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews. Hope I helped you out.

Where have i seen this movie before?? Oh yea, i remember now, pretty much EVERY other cop movie ever made!! For every "Narc", there's about 20 "Dog Watch" type films made. Insanely predictable, tedious & a chore to sit through. If it wasn't for the Great Sam Elliot, I would have turned it off within the first 15 minutes (if not earlier)

My Grade: D+

Eye Candy: Various strippers (mostly in the background)

A "sleeper". I had never even heard of this movie until I was channel jumping one night. I've been a police officer myself for 25 years and thought this was a true to life movie. Non-police critics are rating the movie purely from a critic's point of view and not from a police officer's point of view. This is real.

Sam Elliot is brilliant as a tough San Francisco Detective Charlie Fallon. When his partner is killed while meeting with an informant Fallon snaps, beats the informant to death, and dumps his body in a river. The next day Fallon is assigned a rookie partner, and given the task of investigating the informants murder. Sam Elliot does a good job of portraying a man who tortured by the guilt of his own murderous actions, and grief over the death of his partner who may have been involved in police corruption.

From the start you will like Sam Elliott's character (Falon) : a trustworthy cop that is notably loyal to his partner. But too loyal, and too revengeful when seeing his partner dead in an alley, cause he then kills who he thought to be the assailant before giving him a chance to explain. Falon is an alcoholic, and that tends to sway him from being in self control, though he manages to direct his attention towards finding who's really behind his partners death. He carries along a rookie as his new partner (which seems to be seen too often in films) but Esai Morales does well in accompanying Sam Elliot, though puzzling pieces begin to fit to where Morales begins a self-approved investigation towards Falon; he mainly wants to find the answers since Fallon isn't letting him in on the whole story, and does not like what he finds. There is not a last minute showing at who the bad detectives are, which is okay; and they are not able to sway Falon into joining them, leading to a dramatic ending. Fine acting all the way around, with a touch of humor from Paul Sorvino who is the captain of detectives. It's a good movie that will make you want to see it several times; so it qualifies as a -must see-, and a good addition to a movie collection! (Filmed in San Francisco)