Hollywood Homicide came along during a lean time in Harrison Ford’s career. While What Lies Beneath had been a hit, the solo star vehicles the icon chose, including Random Hearts and K-19: The Widowmaker, were not connecting with audiences. On the page, Hollywood Homicide seemed promising. It was directed by Ron Shelton, the director behind such hits as Bull Durham and Tin Cup, and it would put Ford in the buddy cop genre. Most importantly, his on-screen partner would be an up-and-coming star in his own right, Josh Hartnett, who was coming off Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down.
The premise was interesting because it focused on moonlighting Hollywood cops, with Ford playing a full-time cop and part-time realtor, while Hartnett is a cop/ wannabe actor. The baddie they would go after in this would be based on Death Row Records founder Suge Knight.
In the end, the film was a financial bust, and reviews were lukewarm. It’s become something of a footnote in Ford’s career and not one that’s revisited much by fans. The film itself is a relatively dull affair, with only a few small bursts of action to keep it going. Ford’s performance ranks among his most lacklustre, and in this episode of WTF Happened to this Movie; we dive into the behind-the-scenes drama, which included the fact that the two stars, Ford and Hartnett, did not get along throughout much of the production. What happened there? We’ll tell you all about it in this week’s WTF Happened to this Movie!