‘Bad Boys’ Loaded Down With Cliches
Though it was released for the big screen, you might say that 1995’s “Bad Boys” (FOX at 8) is a made-for-TV movie.
After all, it stars Martin Lawrence (“Martin”), Will Smith (“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”) and Tea Leoni (“The Naked Truth”). And the plot has so many sitcom gags, one-liners and implausible situations that it seems more like television.
This might not be so bad if “Bad Boys” were a comedy. It’s not.
It’s a police buddy movie about two cops assigned to recover $100 million in heroin stolen from a police evidence room.
The detectives enlist the help of a woman (Leoni) who becomes involved when she accompanies a hooker-girlfriend on a call.
Don’t ask what motivated her to end up in a hotel room with a hooker and a drug dealer. Don’t ask how Lawrence, who is a happily married man, and ladies’ man Smith end up switching identities.
Smith and Lawrence do what they do in most of their movies: Talk nonstop. But their clever dialogue is lost in a script awash in buddy-movie cliches.
Director Michael Bay combines first-class stunts and action sequences with spiffy overall art direction, and the editing gives the film added energy.
It’s almost enough to make it work - but not quite.
Highlights
“Olympics,” CBS at 8: Among the events available for coverage: figure skating (pairs free program); ski jumping (normal hill individual); speedskating (men’s 500m, second race); luge (women’s singles, runs 1 and 2); and cross-country skiing (women’s 5km classic). Late-night coverage begins at 1:05 a.m.
“Nova,” KSPS at 7: One of today’s true horror stories is the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, one form of which is mad cow disease. “The Brain Eater” questions whether medical experts are addressing all concerns regarding the spread of the disease among humans.
“Soul Man,” ABC at 8:30: John Goodman is back as Mike’s (Dan Aykroyd) party-hearty pal Stan who shows up with tickets to a Rolling Stones concert. But the big guest star hails from Sesame Street.
“Frontline,” KSPS at 8: Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. reports in “The Two Nations of Black America,” a frank and thoughtful hour that looks at the stark gap between blacks who have made it and those who still struggle.
“NYPD Blue,” ABC at 10: The series takes an unorthodox twist when a man claims that his twin is responsible for assuming his identity and threatening his former girlfriend. But Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) doubts the evil twin exists.
Meanwhile, Simone and Russell (Jimmy Smits, Kim Delaney) work with the mother of a lowlife suspected of a pair of killings at ATMs.
Talk Time
“Tonight,” NBC at 11:35: Singer Trisha Yearwood.
“Late Show With David Letterman,” CBS at 12:05: Bill Cosby and The Blues Brothers.
“Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher,” ABC at 12:05 a.m.: Fred Savage and former U.S. Attorney Joseph DiGenova.
“Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” NBC at 12:35 a.m.: Darrell Hammond (“Saturday Night Live”).