Striking Distance

Plot synopsis:
Thomas Hardy, a Pittsburgh Police homicide detective, has broken the ranks by informing on his partner and cousin, Jimmy Detillo, for using excessive force. En route to the Policemen's Ball with his father, Vince Hardy, the ball is postponed after a call indicating a serial killer nicknamed the Polish Hill Strangler has been spotted. As Tom and Vince pursue the killer's vehicle, the vehicles collide and both roll down an embankment. When Tom regains consciousness, he learns his father has been shot dead and the killer has escaped. Police arrest a criminal named Douglas Kesser as the Strangler. Later, rather than go to prison, Jimmy climbs to the top of the 31st Street Bridge and jumps off. His body is never found.
Two years later, Tom is drinking heavily and has been reassigned to the River Rescue Squad. His cousin Danny, Jimmy's brother, has stepped down from the force and also drinks heavily. Called to the scene of a body dump, Tom finds the victim is an ex-girlfriend. Tom is assigned a new partner, Jo Christman, who learns from District Attorney Frank Morris that Tom had been demoted after telling a television reporter that he believed the Polish Hill Strangler was a policeman.
A nurse is abducted. Tom receives a phone call similar to ones left by the Polish Hill Strangler: the nurse screams before she is shot and the phone goes dead. Detective Eddie Eiler, who hates Tom for turning in Jimmy, states on TV the murder was committed by a copycat. Tom is met with strong opposition by his uncle, Captain Nick Detillo, after suggesting the Strangler is back. Tom goes to the precinct and steals the Strangler file in order to conduct an unauthorized investigation. Soon after, the body of another of Tom's ex-girlfriends is found.
Tom attends the Policeman's Ball, where he is still unpopular with all most police, except for his extended Hardy police family. When a drunken cousin Danny starts acting belligerent, a fistfight occurs between Tom and Eiler which is broken up by Jo. Later that night, the two partners fall in love and have sex at Hardy's boathouse. Outside the docks, an unseen person silently observes the lovemaking, which ends with Tom and Jo romancing each other into a deep slumber.
On patrol, Tom and Jo stumble upon the scene of someone dumping what appears to be a wrapped body off a bridge. Tom destroys the suspect's car but the unidentified individual escapes. Divers retrieve the body only to find it to merely a bunch of rugs, which leads to Tom and Jo being humiliated by their peers.
While Jo stumbles upon Tom's investigation notes of the Stangler, Eiler informs Nick he suspects Tom. Nick discloses Tom has been under scrutiny by Internal Affairs. During a court hearing to have Tom removed from the force, it is revealed Jo is really Emily Harper of the Pennsylvania State Police, who has been monitoring Tom to find evidence of misconduct. Harper perjures herself and Tom goes unpunished.
Emily is kidnapped from her apartment just as Tom finds the body of another female victim, a police dispatcher he knows, outside his trailer. Thinking that Danny is the killer, angry about Jimmy's death, Tom heads upriver to the Detillo family cabin. Just as Danny arrives, someone from behind knocks Tom unconscious. Tom awakens to find himself, Danny, and Emily handcuffed to chairs, with the killer, who turns out to be none other than Jimmy, who survived the fall into the river two years earlier, standing in front of them. Jimmy is about to kill Emily when Nick suddenly walks in and he tells his son to turn himself in, but Jimmy is defiant and commands Nick to tell how "Uncle" Vince really died.
A flashback reveals Nick arrived on the scene immediately after Tom and the Strangler crashed their cars. He was horrified to find Jimmy and let him escape. Vince emerged from the wrecked car and took aim at the fleeing killer, unaware it was Jimmy. Nick tried to stop him and, in the ensuing struggle, accidentally killed Vince.
After this revelation, Jimmy takes aim at Nick, who shoots first. Jimmy is wearing a bulletproof vest and returns fire, killing his father. In a fit of rage, Danny charges at Jimmy, giving Tom a chance to free himself. As the police close in, Jimmy flees on a motorboat with Tom in pursuit. The two get into a scuffle in which Tom kills Jimmy by tasering him in the mouth. After Tom is escorted by a paramedic, an officer attempts to remove the handcuffs from Tom's wrists, but Eiler steps in to remove them, and apologizes in the process, which he offers Tom to punch him in the face, which Tom briefly declines and after a second of reluctance, he punches Eiler in the face. Afterwards, Tom and Emily embrace each other.
The movie ends with Tom, who has been reinstated as a detective, visiting his father's grave with Emily and her daughter at his side.

Tags: murder

Review:
Bruce Willis and Sarah Jessica Parker were excellent together and the supporting cast was also outstanding.Director Rowdy Herrington also brought us the awful A Murder of Crows (1999), but he didn't ruin this one, even if it did get a little far-fetched in places.
An interesting plot line, and Willis is believable in his role.+ (GOOD THINGS)  1.) Direction  2.) Chemistry between Willis and Parker 3.) Ending (unlike everyone else, I didn't see it coming) 4.) Length 5.) The score  6.) John Mahoney's performance(BAD THINGS)  1.) Believability  2.) The script (uneven in places)
Comic book cop thriller in Pittsburgh with Bruce Willis and Sarah Jessica Parker.
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.
Bruce Willis plays good cop Tom Hardy, who's convinced the police killed his dad and framed some poor sap.
"Striking Distance" is one of those films that certainly plays better on TV and fans of Willis' work might enjoy this movie much more than others.
Already stinging from having to turn witness against his own partner(Robert Pastorelli)over mistreatment of a witness,things go from bad to worse when a high speed pursuit of a perp,believed to be a serial killer,ends in tragedy for the man in question,both personal and career-wise.Flash forward two years,and Hardy now works River patrol,considered a sort of "non-essential" position in the force,away from his former plain clothes and uniforms--to which he seems to have burned many bridges--and his life has taken a more apparently low key quality.
He still cannot "play nice" with others and earns himself a new partner/diver: a chipper,idealistic single mom(Sarah Jessica Parker,still many years away from "Sex and the City").Unfortunately,a serial killer is on the loose again,one very similar to the one the force believes they'd captured and convicted already.
The MO has Hardy convinced the real killer is out there,but he seems to be the only one who believes this.Very pat elements to this cop drama(stubborn,tough cop who doesn't believe in the blue code,a sadistic killer,Irish/Italaian cop families,etc.)give frame to this still-watchable flick from director Rowdy Herrington(director and co-writer)and Mark Kaplan(co-writer).Willis is completely at home in this,and this is a side of Parker I frankly miss(it seems like forever since she settled on playing chatty,selfish city dwellers with personal problems!).
Throw in solid character actors who look the part like Dennis Farina(as Willis' Uncle,a chief mucky muck in the department),Tom Sizemore(as Willis' cousin,a perceived screw-up),Brion James(as a department head who has a natural tendency to chafe Willis' character and vice-versa),John Mahoney(as Willis' Dad,a chief himself),Andre Braugher(in a small part as an inscrutable District Attorney)and Timothy Busfield(as a wormy,by-the-book partner diver;there mostly for physical comedy relief),and you have a film that,while unremarkable in and of itself,is still interesting and works on the designs it was drawn.
Although this film is not a classic, you'll love this if you enjoyed Bruce in The Last Boy Scout, Hudson Hawk or the Die Hard Movies as he basically plays the same character.
A down on his luck cop who kicks ass as hard as he hits the bottle.Bruce stars as Tom Hardy, a Pittsburgh city cop who gets busted down to working on a police pursuit boat as he testified against his partner.
This movie has an excellent car chase and some cool lines from Bruce plus some very good set piece action scenes.
There is a original location (Pittsburgh), original occupation for male lead (river patrol), a story with great twists, one of the best car chase scenes ever, a great tugboat takeover scene with a cool shootout and timely humor, great performances by some really good actors: Sarah Jessica, Dennis Farina, Tom Sizemore and Robert Pastorini.
I like Rowdy Herrington, and he assembled a good cast for this 1993 film - Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Farina, Tome Sizemore, Robert Pastorelli, John Mahoney, Timothy Busfield, and Andre Braugher.Willis is Tom Hardy, who spoke out against his crazy partner (Pastorelli) and for this reason is shunned by other officers.There is a serial killer on the loose, and he's killing all of Tom's ex-girlfriends.
This is another EXCELLENT 90's action cop thriller that i grew up watching & is my personal favourite Bruce Willis film,it's up there with The Last Boy Scout (1991),Last Man Standing (1996) & the original Die Hard trilogy.Striking Distance is a really fun late night Mystery Cop Thriller that's exciting at times with bursts of Action & a cool action Hero performance for Willis as mouthy riverboat cop Tom Hardy who teams up with a very young Sarah Jessica Parker & there's a great little cast surrounding Willis like such greats as The legendary TOM ATKINS & the always excellent Dennis Farina R.I.P & the always crazy Tom Sizemore & the great Brion James R.I.P & the excellent John Mahoney R.I.P so yes a really great cast of character actors that complete & compliment this exciting mystery police Thriller!!!
Tom Hardy is my favourite Bruce Willis character by far!!!!Another great aspect of this movie is the ambience & Atmosphere it's got a really nicely done late night feel to it with lovely scenes around the river at night & that cop movie mystery feel & tone like when bodies are discovered floating in the river at night there's a real Thriller ambience it's hard to explain unless you grew up on cop films like i did!!!
I really like the loner rugged tough cop roles where he has to solve whats happening by himself i like that lonely feel & this film has that & that character as Tom Hardy (Willis) who drinks too much & hates everyone & IT'S his best role & character in my opinion as he's the type of guy you wanna be like he's very strong minded & believes in himself & believes what he thinks is right even if everyone is against him he stands alone & stands up to corruption & does the right thing even if it means going against his own family & that is a good man right there & much more interesting & entertaining than his John Mclane Die Hard character!!!
This movie has all those cool elements that 90's cop thriller's had like a nice musical score & car Chases & raining nights with a serial killer out there hunting victims & the who is the killer?
After the success of Die Hard (1988), Die Hard 2 (1990) and The Last Boy Scout (1991) Bruce Willis made another action film in which he plays another cop from Pittsburgh Tom Hardy.
Bruce Willis does a solid job and so does Sarah Jessica Parker as Tom Hardy's partner.
I wish that Bruce Willis would make such a good movies today but he doesn't he is a washed up actor now."Who's the best cop now?" Plot: A serial killer is back in Pittsburgh to torment the former homicide detective who was on his trail years before.
This time the victims are women Tom knows, he must find the killer to prove his innocence.This time Bruce Willis is a homicide detective to solve a case of a serial murders.
Vincent Hardy (John Mahoney) and an accident leave's Tom's dad dead and his partner Jimmy Detillo (Robert Pastorelli) jumps off the bridge in the river, Tommy (Bruce Willis) loses everything including his job.
We have a good dialogues Who's the best cop now?" Good acting from actors Tom Sizemore, Robert Pastorelli and Dennis Farina who are no longer with us anymore RIP you will be both missed.Here we have a great music score from Brad Fiedel who made music scores also for The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Let's Get Harry, Fright Night 1,2 , The Serpent and the Rainbow, Blue Steel, True Lies, and Johnny Mnemonic.The movie is directed by Rowdy Herrington who also directed my favorite Patrick Swayze film Road House (1989).
But no one talk's today about this movie no one even mention's it anymore it is a really shame and I don't know why.I have enjoyed Bruce Willis and I have enjoyed Sarah Jessica Parker it was a solid good fun mystery action film and I don't know why the lower rating for it or why people are bashing it.I love this movie it is my favorite Bruce Willis movie I wish they would make movies like this are today I really do wish.
Anything under 7 would be ridiculous, as anyone claiming this isn't at least a GOOD action film (it is sure as hell better than all the movies Bruce Willis is doing today including A Good Day to Die Hard that movie was a peace sh**t film!) I recommend to all action and Bruce Willis fans.Striking Distance is a 1993 American action thriller film starring Bruce Willis as Pittsburgh Police homicide detective Thomas Hardy.
The film was shot on location throughout Pittsburgh; its early title was Three Rivers.8/10 Grade: B+ Studio: Columbia Pictures Starring: Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Farina, Tom Sizemore, Brion James, Robert Pastorelli, Tom Atkins Director: Rowdy Herrington Producers: Marty Kaplan, Arnon Milchan Screenplay: Rowdy Herrington, Marty Kaplan Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 42 Mins.
Striking Distance (1993) is a thriller/mystery/action film that stars Bruce Willis and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Bruce Willis is very good in his leading man role, it's an action movie, so it's kinda his turf.
Now this is a different kind of role for Sarah Jessica Parker, I don't think I've seen her in any other action film, this is probably her only one, but nonetheless she was great in her role!
I'm not even a Bruce Willis fan but i liked this movie a lot, sure it wasn't perfect, had some plot and script/dialogue issues, but actors (Willis, SJ Parker among many others) were quite good and so was the story.
Seeing Willis reassigned to river patrol made me think about The Wire (though i guess its should be the other way around), the location being Pittsburg rather than NY, LA or any of the usual places cop movies takes place was nice, the ending was good even though the believability of it left to be desired.
A very presentable, slick cop after serial killer thriller with a dependable cast (Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Denis Farina, Brion James, Tom Sizemore and Robert Pastorelli) and interesting backdrop (the beat isn't the streets, but a river system) despite the same old-same, same-old plotting with stock clichés and some very implausible revelations.
Although Bruce Willis was at the time on a run of poorly received film's {Pulp Fiction and a career invigoration was a year away}, he still had two Die Hard movies behind him and a cult favourite in The Last Boy Scout.
The entire police force, including Dennis Farina and the late Brion James (both a little over-the-top with their resistance to Willis' accusations) writes him off as crazy, except for his new partner, played by Sarah Jessica Parker.
Several good action sequences, including a great opening car chase and a boat chase, as well as an entertaining sequence involving a hijacked tugboat, make Striking Distance better than most cop thrillers.
The stage curtains open ...An established hollywood action star now, Bruce Willis continues the trend as a former Pittsburgh detective who is working with the River Rescue Squad in "Striking Distance" - also starring Sarah Jessica Parker.Tom Hardy (Willis) isn't too popular with the Pittsburgh police department after he informs on his partner, who is also his cousin, Jimmy Detillo for use of excessive force.
thanks to our beautiful Sarah Jessica Parker , and to our best 90's action man , Bruce Willis.
Someone said it in the reviews: There is a original location (Pittsburgh), original occupation for male lead (river patrol), a story with great twists, one of the best car chase scenes ever, a great tugboat takeover scene with a cool shootout and timely humor, great performances by some really good actors: Sarah Jessica, Dennis Farina, Tom Sizemore and Robert Pastorini.
A lot of people tend to put this movie down, but I really find it enjoyable and will go back to it frequently for some good Bruce Willis action.
he got sent to Jersey, while Willis is on river patrol.Sarah Jessica Parker is quite lovely as the new partner, and look at that supporting cast: Dennis Farina.
Pittsburgh police homicide detective Tom Hardy (Bruce Willis) is an outcast after testifying that his partner and cousin Jimmy Detillo (Robert Pastorelli) used excessive force.
This film started out in different kind of way as there is a big chase, Willis' character father gets killed and he is convinced it is a cop.
It has a cast that includes Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, and a host of other people that appear in movies as usually more background characters, but usually do a good job when given the chance to shine.
Even though Bruce Willis and Sarah Jessica Parker are good, the movie definately lulls for a while.
It's not a great movie, but it's worth a look if you like mystery\action and you like Bruce Willis..
At least she wasn't Susan Sarandon.In the city of Pittburgh (Jeff Goldblum's hometown) a cop (Bruce Willis) comes too close to finding out that a serial killer is another cop and he is transferred to river patrol with Sarah Jessica Parker.
While it is true this movie does not really stand out as a great action flick (like his "Die Hard" films or "Hostage") and you have a fairly good chance of guessing the killer in the first five minutes, the film is entertaining and has enough action and suspense to keep you in your seat.It has Dennis Farina!
STRIKING DISTANCE has Bruce Willis playing an alcoholic Pennsylvania river cop, who was busted down from detective two years before over flubbing a serial killer case that ended in the deaths of his father and a cousin, both cops.
Striking Distance is set in Pittsburgh where Tom Hardy (Bruce Willis) has just had to testify against his partner & cousin Jimmy Detillo (Robert Pastorelli), on his way to a policeman's ball with his father Vincent (John Mahoney) they get a call to say that a wanted murderer is being pursued.
Tom is convinced the killer is back but discovers that officially the new murders have no connection to the earlier ones, Tom is sure that a big cover-up is going on & that the killer is targeting him personally...Written & directed by Rowdy Herrington there doesn't seem to be much love for this much maligned action thriller with even star Bruce Willis saying 'it sucked' while on a chat-show in 2004, hey Bruce I have news for you Striking Distance is nowhere near the worst film you have appeared in.
There's a very good cast here including Bruce Willis, Dennis Farina, Tom Sizemore, Brion James & Tom Atkins with the only weak link the ever awful Sarah Jessica Parker in an early role.Striking Distance is a pretty good action thriller, it has a reasonable murder mystery, some clichéd cop drama & some good action scenes.
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..
Sometimes movie watchers like mystery, dislike action, or some variation of such but Striking Distance gives a little of all of the major genres to make it the perfect film for just pure entertainment.Bruce Willis is the iconic macho man.
The voices of Sam the Sham, and the Pharaohs as they sing 'Little Red Riding Hood' are what fill the opening scene of Striking Distance, as a little toy Police Car we at first think is real appears, followed by a woman who's been bound and gagged.This is a great beginning for an action movie, and the shock of it grabs the audience.Tom Hardy (Bruce Willis) is a cop who comes from a large family of police
This average thriller stars Bruce Willis as a former cop turned drunk (pretty much the role he always played in these early '90s films) who is on the track of a serial killer.
He is given able support by Sarah Jessica Parker and a solid cast of movie veterans, including Dennis Farina as his strict uncle, Tom Sizemore as a spaced out nutter, and Brion James in a typically villainous role.The action scenes may not be the most original of all time, but most of them are pretty good, one standout involving a flare gun being fired at a speeding car.
This is just an OK action/murder mystery film starring bruce willis when he was around 40 and in his acting prime.
Striking Distance (1993): Dir: Rowdy Herrington / Cast: Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tom Sizemore, Robert Pastorelli, Dennis Farina: Cliché filled mess that misses its mark.
Basically Det. Tom Hardy (Bruce Willis) comes from a generation of cops, and he is devastated when his father Vince (John Mahoney) dies during the chase of a serial killer, and after he gets himself in an argument with his partner and cousin Det. Jimmy Detillo (Robert Pastorelli).
The only cast members who deserve to walk away from this movie without shame are Dennis Farina, Tom Sizemore (who was good IMO) and Bruce Willis.
::Spoilers::In one of his many anti-Die Hard films, Bruce plays a glum, haunted river patrol cop trying to catch a man murdering his old girlfriends while contending with new partner Sarah Jessica Parker, prior to her "Sex & The City" success.