Fantastic!

Admirable film.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Blistering performances.

In 1981, Burt Reynolds did a movie called SHARKEY'S MACHINE. He played a cop who is demoted to the vice squad after a shootout with a drug dealer results in several deaths. In RENT-A-COP, he plays a cop who is reduced to working as a security guard when a masked killer botches a drug bust and kills his fellow police officers. In the former movie, Burt watches a hooker, played by Rachel Ward, whom he hopes will help him nab a crimelord. In the latter movie, a hooker, played by Liza Minnelli, joins forces with Burt to track down the killer. Both of these movies co-starred Bernie Casey. The plots of both movies seem familiar, and Liza is not really believable as a hooker, but RENT-A-COP is just one of those Eighties movies that is far more fun to watch on TV rather than the big screen.

I love the music score, the relaxed jokes and the expected turns in the story. I have no idea how it did in 1987, but it is among my favorite cop comedies from the period. A little rip of off Beverly Hills Cop but I'm able to forgive them. It is among those I go back to watch again when I have forgotten it.The worst thing about it is the villains. None of them go down in history. No special features to mention on the DVD I got, which is crappy. However, I believe they could have created a lasting DVD audience if they had invested a little in the extra quality features.You can probably drop buying it if you're not likely to enjoy the genre, Minelli or Reynolds. If you can rent/borrow it cheap and are able to enjoy simple action/comedy from the eighties then pop the corn, relax and enjoy.

Chicago cop Burt Reynolds is suspended after a sting operation goes terribly wrong; he turns in his badge but finds work playing bodyguard to hooker Liza Minnelli, who was a witness to the massacre that got Reynolds in hot water. Burt seems to be suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (he's barely present); however, vivacious Liza (too old, really, to be playing a busy prostitute) does manage to elevate this crime-drama with her personality alone, and the solid technical aspects of the production, not to mention a fine supporting cast and gritty locales, are also exceptional. While combining corny comedic asides, a very strange villain, and jarring bursts of violence, "Rent-a-Cop" is pretty much a mess--and professional critics snubbed it--yet it is entertaining enough and the two stars share some great chemistry (even with Burt so sleepy). **1/2 from ****

I was sick one day and was skimming channels and I came upon this terribly rank movie. The plot and even the subplots (if you can find one) have been done to extinction. BUT, as bad as the story was, I reserve a special comment for Liza Minelli. Her character was absolutely one of the most annoying characters I have ever has the misfortune of seeing on film. Her only two competitors in this category are John Leguziamo in "The Pest" and Julia Stiles in anything she's done (or half-done). Maybe she performed exactly as the script suggested or maybe (groan!) that is the limit she has to her acting range. Either way, they should have had a rewrite and killed her off in the first 30 seconds of the film (eg. Like the girl that fell off the balcony in Lethal Weapon (I) (but at least she had nice breasts))Most Humbly Submitted...Douglas Neidermeyer