Homicide - The Movie (2000)

A powerful coda to what many considered the best show on TV recalls Homicide at its best: prickly character tensions, sour office politics, raging emotions, and the camaraderie of the squad room. In Homicide, the Movie that squad room becomes unusually crowded when the entire cast, past and present, converges to hunt for the gunman who shot beloved former shift commander Al Giordello (Yaphet Kotto), now a controversial Baltimore mayoral candidate.

The class reunion could have easily turned into a gimmicky series of cameos, and with such a sprawling cast many familiar faces are indeed little more than walk-ons, but the fiercely intelligent script anchors the investigation in the even more anticipated reunion of the tetchy, intense retired detective Frank Pembleton (Andre Braugher) and his former partner, Tim Bayliss (Kyle Secor). Never quite friends yet intimately trusted partners, the relationship of the most compelling duo in the show's history is pushed to the brink as the morally sure Pembleton digs around the guilt that haunts Bayliss in a devastating climax. All the hallmarks of the show are here--the vivid location shooting, the nervous you-are-there camerawork, the effective use of popular music--and the episode comes full circle in a lovely coda in which even the deceased make their appearances. It's an uncompromising piece of American television and a moving end to a great series. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

An excellent movie that is now part of the Homicide Megaset

I see that most people are asking a pretty outrageous price for this movie whenever it comes available. It is a great conclusion to a great series, and not only brings the entire cumulative Homicide cast from all seven seasons together one last time, it also wraps up Tim Bayliss' story from the series finale. However, for under two hundred dollars, you can buy the "Homicide Life on the Street - Complete Series Megaset" and have all seven seasons of Homicide, the Law and Order cross-over episodes, bunches of extra features, and this movie all on DVD. I consider that to be a much better buy. December 25, 2006

Over-crowded, But Worth the Watch

The premise of Homicide: The Movie is very simple. The former shift commander of the Baltimore Homicide unit is shot down by an unknown assailant while campaigning for the job of mayor. All of his past comrades rally to find the shooter. Problem is, there are just too many characters to fit effectively into the movie given the time frame. If you watch closely, you can tell that even the writers know which characters deserve more screen time. The two who receive the most (deservedly so) are Frank Pembleton (Andre Braugher) and Tim Bayliss (Kyle Secor.) Their reunion is awkward and full of unspoken tension that eventually boils over into a rooftop confrontation that proves to be the finest scene in the entire movie. Its ironic that said confrontation doesn't deal directly with the plot of the movie, but has a sharp baring on the past series. In true Homicide fashion, the movie does wrap up some loose ends, but it poses new questions by answering old ones, especially where Bayliss and Pembleton are concerned. Its also worth noting that another ghostly scene involving two dead characters, Steve Crosetti (Jon Polito) and Beau Felton (Daniel Baldwin) is very effective as a closer, even though it seems to run contrary to the gritty realism of the entire series.

Other past regulars are a welcome sight. John Munch (Richard Belzer) and Stan Bolander (Ned Beatty) have an easy time resurrecting the antagonistic banter that was often a comical relief point in the early part of the series. Kay Howard (Melissa Leo) and Meldrick Lewis (Clark Johnson) prove rock solid and don't seem to have missed a beat since the series went off the air. Other newer and lesser liked characters such as Paul Falsone (Jon Seda) and Renee Sheppard (Michael Michele) receive very little screen time and this just can't be a coincidence. Bumping the wormy Stew Gharty (Peter Gerety) up to shift commander was understandable, given the dirty nature of office politics often high-lighted in the show.

While the movie does bring us classic Homicide drama, it also mixes in some of the gimmicky plot elements that proved to be the show's undoing in its final year. The idea of Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) being shot is certainly believable, but its hard to understand why he'd run for mayor when he was always disgusted by upstairs politics. Its also hard to care about his son, Mike (Giancarlo Esposito), as we watch him grieve for his father. Mike was a bad plot point from the beginning and is a waste of screen time when there are better characters on which to focus. Such characters include Megan Russert (Isabella Hofmann), Mike Kellerman (Reed Diamond), Juliana Cox (Michelle Forbes) and J. H. Brodie (Max Perlich), who receive mere seconds of camera exposure by comparison. Still, with all of its flaws, and with no DVD extras to speak of, Homicide's final movie is worth the watch and is a must for any fan's collection.
August 2, 2005

Slightly uneven

Homicide-The Movie is a nice wrapup to a fantastic seven-year run of the best show on TV. I like the idea of all the characters returning and the clever way it was handled. The movie, while it lacks the emotional intense punch of the first six seasons of the show, is good. it's just a bit uneven in the writing and acting. It seems like the writers tried too hard to combine the stellar writing and performances of seasons 1-6 with the less intense workings of season 7.
For fans of the show, this is a great way to say goodbye to pembleton, bayliss, bolander, giardello and the rest of the squad. It's a worthwhile addition to the collection. July 30, 2005

Awful end for a great series

I've been a huge fan, read the book, watched all the episodes when first run, and now purchased and watched all 7 seasons on DVD.

The movie was simply terrible. The writing was bad. Melodrama at its worst. I wish I had never watched. July 15, 2005

A Fitting End!

The HOMICIDE MOVIE WAS A FITTING END TO A GREAT SERIES. The HOMICIDE Movie was great because it was anchored in a grabbing central storyline involving the beloved Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) while still allowing for subplots that helped tie up loose plot ends from the series, all without becoming a cheesy reunion show. I have always been a fan of detective shows, but HOMICIDE grabbed me in a different way. The stories were so gritty and examined many elements of the human condition in the cops and the criminals, alike. Executive Producer Tom Fontana managed to carry this feeling over to his HBO hit OZ, which I highly recommend to HOMICIDE fans. While the earliest seasons of HOMICIDE (1-3) were the best, all of the seasons have merit, because the acting always stayed strong and the plots intriguing. My favorite episodes of all time are the "the pilot"(Season 1) and "crosetti"(Season 3). I was dissapointed when I heard HOMICIDE was cancelled, but I was exicited when I heard this movie coming out. I thought to myself, how are they going to have all of the HOMICIDE characters return in this movie? Well, they pulled it off with class and grace. Seeing the ghost of the little girl, Adina Watson (the first case in season 1, which remained unsolved), and how deceased detectives Felton and Crosetti fit into the plot, managed to put the whole series in perspective, again making me realize what a great television show HOMICIDE had been. It was great because it made me care about the characters; I loved the banter that certain pairs such as Munch and Bolander, Bayliss and Pembleton, and Crosetti and Lewis shared. The HOMICIDE MOVIE allows fans of the show to say a proper goodbye to our favorite characters. June 27, 2005

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