Watch City Heat For Free

Too much of everything

To me, this movie is perfection.

Thanks for the memories!

Sorry, this movie sucks

"City Heat" was released a week before "The Cotton Club" in December, 1984. It's basically a farce version of that film, set in Kansas City. You would think that with Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood this would be a solid gangster comedy, if not great, but you'd be wrong.The opening scene where Reynolds gets in a brawl in a diner while Eastwood coolly sits nearby keys off that "City Heat" is not meant to be taken seriously; in fact, it's downright goofy. It's not a good start and the film never recovers.The movie's only 93 minutes long, but it seems a lot longer. Something about it doesn't click. The characters are cartoons so it's next to impossible to care about them. The problem isn't Reynolds or Eastwood, as they have their usual charisma. The problem is the farcical nature of the material and the convoluted plot.Still, it's amusing at times so it's mildly worthwhile if you're a fan of the stars, just don't expect anything all that good.GRADE: D+ or C-

I'm not really much of a fan of Clint Eastwood movies, his silent, calm, and collected characters just don't really seem to mesh with me. This movie is no different. What attracted me to this movie though is the 1920's gangster plot line; this is something that I quite like, though they never seem to turn out how I expected. In these movies one expects to see gun fight with tommy guns, cement shoes, speakeasies, and gangs at war with each other. This movie has it, but the action, as seems to be in a lot of Clint Eastwood movies, is a bit slow.Clint Eastwood's character is not the main character, rather it is an ex-cop come gumshoe (private detective) named Murphy. Eastwood plays Murphy's ex-partner and there seems to be quite a bit of animosity between them. This is the typical personality test that puts together people with opposing personalities, and these two character's personalities are definitely opposed, right to the point where they will start shooting at each other. Murphy is quite extroverted and loud while Eastwood is his usual quiet and calm self.The movie was alright but not really all that gripping, especially how I decided to stop it and go to sleep. The action was slow and the plot was also quite slow. They kept the flavour of the era and it was reasonably easy to see what was going on. Unfortunuately this means that there is little intrigue and when there is little intrigue then something else is needed to fill the space. There wasn't much in this movie that did this. There were gunfights, but even these were slow and tedious to watch. To me, City Heat is a movie to see once and forget.

Buddy-buddy cop movie set in Kansas City, 1933. Director Richard Benjamin ("Mermaids" and "Made in America") does well to allow Eastwood and Reynolds to carry the film, knowing Sam O. Brown's plot and premise weren't going to pull this one across the line.Clint and Burt do beautifully creating a hate-hate relationship that stems from a former partnership on the force. Eastwood has remained a lieutenant, while private eye Reynolds has himself knee-deep in a botched sting operation thanks to his now dead partner. The pair are great together; no-one is as dry as big Clint, nor as wet as old Burt. Jane Alexander, Madeline Kahn, Rip Torn and Irene Cara lend support.Benjamin wisely kept things tongue-in-cheek, while the scenery is convincing enough, with lots of old cars and tommy guns knocking around.Wednesday, July 22, 1998 - Video

This movie is part of a 3-for-1 DVD set of Clint Eastwood movies. None of them arise above the "B" movie genre.Set in the 1930s, here Clint Eastwood is Lieutenant Speer, normally very laid back, to the point where he can watch others beating each other up with no involvement, until ... they cause his coffee or drink to spill. Then he becomes a fighting machine.Burt Reynolds is his friend and investigator Mike Murphy, who is constantly the butt of "short" jokes next to Eastwood.Other notables include Jane Alexander, Madeline Kahn, and Rip Torn. Plus, the singer Irene Cara of "Flashdance" fame plays a singer Ginny Lee.As a movie, overall, it isn't very good. The story is confusing, almost impossible to figure out who is doing what and for what reason. There are lots of fights and lots of shooting, but hardly anyone gets hit with bullets. But as a dark comedy it works pretty well, for the actors in it.