MOD SQUAD
US, 1999, 92 minutes, Colour.
Claire Danes, Giovanni Ribisi, Omar Epps, Dennis Farina, Richard Jenkins.
Directed by Scott Silver.
Mod Squad was a popular television series of the 1960s, capitalising on the spirit of rebellion, youth alienation, the fashions of hair and clothes at the time, language. And three of the young people who had charges against them are commandeered by the police to act as undercover agents. This is not always quite credible, the angry personalities sometimes erupting, even in the middle of undercover work. And some emotional and love problems as well.
Claire Danes had been winning awards on television by this time and had appeared as Juliet in Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet. She was to have a very successful career, winning many awards for the television series, Homeland. Giovanni Ribisi, however, was to play variations on this kind of role for many years, a man with temperament issues. At one stage, Omar Epps was an emerging star but did not follow through with a successful career. It is a pleasure to see Dennis Farina although he is murdered rather early in the film leaving the excellent actor, Richard Jenkins, as an obvious villain.
The film establishes the three characters, warts and all, and then reveals that they are agents. They squabble amongst themselves, using unorthodox messy methods, mixing in clubs with drug dealers and buyers. However, there is a subplot with double dealings amongst the police, getting rid of the head who had employed the young people, his deputy feigning loyal support but actually in charge of a row operation to get the confiscated drugs and sell them and not above manipulating the three leading to a confrontation at the airport for the transport of the drugs.
This leads to quite a lot of fights, exercises in temperament, and Claire Danes becoming involved with a rather charming individual who turns out to be two-timing her for the drugs, played by young Josh Brolin. Not an effective script and, perhaps, too much immersed in the tone of the 60s as interpreted in the 1990s. Not an entertaining watch.
