As the movie opens, Officer Toody is part of a silly musical number. It turns out he is dreaming while he sleeps in Car 54 in the middle of a riot. He and his partner (Al Lewis) return to the 53rd precinct after the familiar call. It is a wild ride full of physical comedy. Unfortunately, Lewis' character is retiring, which is a shame because he is one of the few actors giving a performance worth seeing. Muldoon, his by-the-book replacement, has been trained in new law enforcement techniques referred to as MADCOPP, which he tries to teach the other officers. Muldoon shoots at a man who stole a sandwich and tickets a blind man with a dog for jaywalking.
The 53rd is assigned to protect Herbert Hortz, a witness who is testifying against claustrophobic mobster Don Motti. Motti hires hit men who, fortunately, turn out to be incompetent (otherwise, this movie would be over quickly).
If any performances in this movie can be described as worthwhile, they would be Fran Drescher as a girl Toody introduces Muldoon to, and Nipsey Russell as the captain. And maybe Daniel Baldwin as Motti. As for David Johansen (Toody), I found him very annoying, mainly because his tough-sounding voice didn't work. Later in the movie, though, his performance improved. John McGinley (Muldoon) wasn't particularly likeable.
Some highlights for me that are not spoilers: Hortz performs with a pair of rappers, an all-too-short jazz performance at the Blue Note, Tone Loc's brief appearance as a carriage driver, Toody getting snagged on a hospital patient's catheter, Lewis watching himself on 'The Munsters'.
Once I got used to it, I actually found myself enjoying the movie. The second half actually seemed pretty good.
Some highlights for me that would likely be called SPOILERS:
Lewis falls down stairs at his retirement party; Muldoon's own musical number (he was pretty talented) which also ends up being a dream; Toody's 1961 Plymouth getting stolen after Toody forgot Hortz was in the trunk, and especially Toody's attempt to go undercover as a hit man in a purple suit.
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