Best movie of this year hands down!

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Fantastic!

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

This film opens in 1991 and a serial killer is murdering women in Pittsburgh. Detective Tom Hardy has been hunting the man and believes he is probably a cop. One day, as he and his father, also a policeman, are on their way to a function they hear that the killer has been spotted. They give chase and ultimately run him off the road; both cars crash and when Hardy regains consciousness he learns that the killer has killed his father and escaped. A few days later somebody is arrested but Hardy is convinced he isn't the real killer. He is already unpopular for testifying against his partner, who jumped off a high bridge rather than go to jail.Two years later Hardy is no longer a detective, instead he is driving a boat patrolling the rivers of Pittsburgh. He has a bit of a drink problem and is given a new partner; Jo Christman. At first he is unsure about having a female partner but soon they get along… a bit too well. On their first day together they help pull a body out of the water; Hardy is convinced that the serial killer is operating again despite some differences. It soon becomes apparent that the killer has a grudge against Hardy; he is targeting women he had previously dated and it only a matter of time before he targets Jo. Unfortunately the homicide detectives think this is an unrelated case and some even think Hardy could be involved.While this is far from a classic and features rather too many clichés it is still fun to watch. Bruce Willis does a solid job as Hardy and Sarah Jessica Parker is okay as Jo, unfortunately her character doesn't have much depth even though there is a twist involving her part way through. Dennis Farina brings some gravitas to the role of Capt. Nick Detillo, Hardy's uncle in law and the father of his former partner. The revelation of the killer's identity is clearly meant to be a big surprise but I suspect most viewers will at least have entertained the possibility that he was the killer. On the plus side the action is pretty good; a nice car chase early on and some boat chases later. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of Bruce Willis or anybody wanting a fairly undemanding action/mystery.

I'm not going to say it's original, because it isn't. I'm not going to say it's unpredictable, because it isn't. I am going to say that it was enjoyable.Sure the whole maverick, womanising cop with a bit of an alcohol problem thing is fairly worn out, but still, it works. Truth be told I actually guessed who the killer was before the end- it was a little obvious. The only real shock was when it was revealed that Sarah Jessica Parker was actually working undercover to 'spy on' Bruce Willis (there was certainly a lot to spy on in some scenes, if you know what I'm saying). I did say that it wasn't very original. It is in fact stereotypical Bruce Willis. At the same time, however, there is a certain timelessness to stereotypical Bruce Willis films. The one-liners never get annoying, the action is never not exciting, the swearing is never nonexistent and the nudity is always manageable but yet somewhat awkward for a teenager such as myself. It was well-acted, well-shot and a perfectly enjoyable action film.

RELEASED IN 1993 and written/directed by Rowdy Herrington, "Striking Distance" stars Bruce Willis as Tom Hardy, a Pittsburgh detective who's demoted to river rescue. A serial killer returns after a two-year absence and bodies of beautiful women start turning up in the river, all women whom Hardy used to date! Sarah Jessica Parker is on hand as Hardy's partner on the river, Jo Christman.The movie has a bad reputation. Roger Ebert tore it to pieces, basically saying it was too derivative and by-the-numbers, and Willis himself said he hated it. I can understand criticism to a point. The story has a melodramatic comic-book vibe, which is obvious in the opening act, almost like a TV production except with a superior cast and action scenes. But, and this is an important "but," I found myself drawn into the story & the characters and greatly enjoyed the rare Pittsburgh locations, as well as the (melo)drama and thrills. In other words, the movie is entertaining and entertainment is the name of the game.This is a cop thriller in the manner of the Dirty Harry series, especially "The Dead Pool" (1988), except it's more comic booky and taking place in Pittsburgh rather than San Francisco. It's also reminiscent of films like "The General's Daughter" (1999). Although not technically as good as the Dirty Harry movies or "The General's Daughter" due to its cartoonish-ness, "Striking Distance" nevertheless pulled me into the lives of the characters and, for the most part, furnished the requisite thrills.The generically-named movie (also akin to the Dirty Harry franchise) was originally called "Three Rivers," a much better title simply because it's more specific, but was changed at the last minute because the marketing department feared people would think it was a sports movie due to Three Rivers Stadium, so they switched it to "Striking Distance." Why "Striking Distance"? The first hint is at the beginning of the movie when the title card shows two electrical bolts coming out from either side of the title. Later we observe the mysterious killer using a stun gun before killing his victims and, with a stun gun, you must of course be within... striking distance!Speaking of the killer, one element of the plot I haven't mentioned is that this is a whodunit. Someone is charged with being the killer early on but Hardy knows it's the wrong guy; he and others are sure it's a cop or ex-cop doing the killings. There are a few suspects, including Hardy himself, but I honestly was unable to guess the right person. There's another twist late in the story that also took me by surprise."Striking Distance" may not be exceptional and is marred by cartoonish exaggeration, but it entertains as a cop thriller and that's what's most important when it comes to these types of flicks. Plus it was shot in Pittsburgh, a refreshing change.THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 42 minutes. ADDITIONAL WRITER: Martin Kaplan.GRADE: C+/B-

Tom Hardy is a fifth-generation cop. When his father dies during the chase of a serial killer, Hardy further complicates matters by implicating his partner and cousin Jimmy in a police brutality case. Two years after Jimmy is believed to have committed suicide, women from Hardy's past start to turn up dead, and his father's alleged killer is found. Believing that the alleged killer is a patsy, Hardy conducts his own illegal investigation into his father's own death, and the women's deaths as well. Hardy and the killer ultimately lock horns in a showdown that ties all the loose ends on both case.It's pretty formulaic stuff for Willis, during the time I like to refer to as his 'chubby era'. He had a pretty bad run of films between 93 to 95, and was finally broke by DHWAV in the summer of 95.It's fun stuff though while it lasts, Cop turns alcoholic, argues a lot with Farina and James, and the killer turns up at the end, but isn't surprising as his name is pretty high up on the credits at the beginning.Parker is fine, but if her character was cut out of the story, it wouldn't damage the narrative.If your a Willis fine, it's a good movie with no surprises.