REVIEWS

"THE MOD SQUAD"

Not everyone agrees with me, but I think that Claire Danes is one of the most gorgeous actresses around. She's got those big, beautiful eyes, pretty lips, and the perfect smile. In addition, she's got incredible talent. She was outstanding when she starred in the short-lived "Life Goes On" on ABC (I hate ABC... they have really good programming, but if it's not an instant hit, they pull the plug... it happened recently with "Cupid"), and in every movie I've seen her in after that, she's shown great versatility. I tellya, Claire Danes is da bomb.

Okay, now that I'm done drooling...

I've never seen the old TV series "The Mod Squad," but I was looking forward to seeing this movie version. For one thing (and most obviously), I wanted to see Claire Danes play a tough chick. Besides, she looked sexier than ever in the previews I saw. Secondly, it looked really good. So my verdict? It was pretty good. Not great, just pretty good. I dunno, I expected a little more. On the plus side, I got small glimpses of Claire Danes' belly (a nice belly is my favorite part of the female body), and she seems to have a really nice one.

The movie had a strange time warp thing about it. The terminology that the actors were using were kinda retro ("right on" and "solid") and so was the clothing of Omar Epps, but Claire Danes' outfits were very 90s. Also, the music score was pure 70s, but the songs played in clubs and all that were modern. The look and the way it was shot was 70s looking, too. All that wasn't as distracting as it coulda been, I guess.

The leads were all well-cast and they were great. I thought Claire Danes was perfect, Omar Epps (who I haven't seen in a while, which is a shame... he has a great on-screen presence) was great, and Giovanni Ribisi was also very good. He has all the funny lines, and he's hilarious. Dennis Farina has a role here, and as always, he's a cop (if he's not a bad guy, he's a cop... or an ex-cop).

"The Mod Squad" was directed by Scott Silver, a guy with a unique style who got some acclaim a couple of years ago when he wrote and directed "Johns," a movie about male prostitutes that I never saw. It was written by Silver, Stephen T. Kay (who also wrote and directed "The Last Time I Commited Suicide") and Kate Lanier (who helped write "Set It Off" and wrote the adaptation of "What's Love Got to Do With It"). Together they made an okay movie, but for some reason, I thought it lacked something, though I'm not sure what. A better critic would probably know.

I dunno, "The Mod Squad" was okay, I guess, but to me, it was more of a movie with great shots of Claire Danes. If it were just that I was reviewing, I'd say this movie was excellent. But I'm not. It had good moments, funny moments, lame moments, and everything in between. See it if you want. If you have the same appreciation for Claire Danes that I do, then you MUST see it.

Scale of 1-10: 6