Dog Watch (1997 Video) User Reviews

DVD Version

[lntfreeman · 4/10 · 1 October 2007]

Although the story is good and portrayals what I expected of Sam Elliot my DVD copy contained almost unbearable synchronization problems. The dialogue was almost 3 seconds behind the lip movement throughout the whole film.

I would therefore be very careful in purchasing any DVD of the film without checking for the problem.

I would also follow the recommended censors classifications particularly in relation to language and drug usage.

This film could become a silent classic cop movie and with the above cautionary notes I can recommend it to prospective viewers

Generic cop movie #1,329

[movieman_kev · 5 October 2003]

Where have i seen this movie before?? Oh yea, i remember now, pretty much EVERY other cop movie ever made!! For every "Narc", there's about 20 "Dog Watch" type films made. Insanely predictable, tedious & a chore to sit through. If it wasn't for the Great Sam Elliot, I would have turned it off within the first 15 minutes (if not earlier)

My Grade: D+

Eye Candy: Various strippers (mostly in the background)

Dog Watch IS a dog

[rseyd · 2/10 · 30 June 2005]

I just finished watching Dog Watch. I thought parts of the movie were hokey with more than a few implausibilities. The acting wasn't too bad and the plot wasn't bad. BUT, as the saying goes, the devil was in the details.

Some examples:

1) The bleed-through on Charlie Falon's (Sam Elliott) bandage was shown to be coming from the back of his hand while it was his knuckles that were bleeding.

2) Would a detective dispose of his murder victim from a very well-lighted area? This seemed very silly to me.

I am not unusually picky about a movie but, in my humble opinion, this one is definitely NOT recommended by me.

Great acting/mediocre movie

[baycitymd · 7/10 · 5 October 2007]

Ah! When good actors take on bland material! If you are thinking of this movie as a tight police thriller you may be disappointed. While the situations are very true to life, the plot proceeds at a very predictable clip and you can pretty well see what lays ahead way before the actors take you there. Many of the criminals and secondary figures are really just stereotypes in motion. Much of the dialog is just plain silly.

But! If you love to see good actors rise above this kind of material and make something of it, then you will LOVE this movie! Sam Elliott is nothing short of brilliant in taking the one-note character of Detective Falon come alive with depth and pathos. Those of you who have never seen Elliott emote that much beyond his usual scowling stoic stances will be delighted at the range of emotion he depicts in this film. And also, in his early fifties in this film, he looks fantastic! His bare chest scene gives hope to middle aged men everywhere! Esai Morales does a wonderful job elevating his role as Det. Falon's eager beaver new police partner. He could have easily played it as a Robin to Elliott's Batman, but instead he breathed a genuineness and passion into this role. He makes it work despite some of the lame lines he is given to say.

Paul Sorvino is fun to watch! He plays the eccentric police captain. He seems to know he is slumming in this movie and is having a ball doing it. He makes it fun for us too.

This movie is very by-the-numbers in plot but makes up for it with great performances! Sam Elliott fans should definitely get this one as it is suck a kick to see him spread his wings and do so much more than he usually is allowed to do!

Total Drama Zero Action.

[smeimports · 2/10 · 14 April 2020]

Sam Elliott cries half the movie and there's barely any action at all other than roughing up the bad guys for info. I've seen better Pyun and Sidaris films, this is a total waste of time unless your looking for a whiny drama. The only good scene was when Elliott went to his partners for din din.......SKIP

Married to the job

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 10 May 2006]

**SPOILERS** Extremely brutal police drama set in San Francisco involving a sting operation that goes terribly wrong. A cop Det. Falon, Sam Elliott,mistakenly and savagely beats to death an undercover policeman Winch, Mike Watson,thinking that he murdered his partner Det. Sam Levinson, Mike Burstyn. A partner who unknowing to Falon was dirty.

Getting the lowdown that a group of policemen under his command are dealing drugs by knocking off drug dealers of their cocaine and heroin and then selling it back to them Captain Delgoti, Paul Sorvino, sets up a number of sting operations in his precinct with one of the cops targeted being Det. Levinson. Levinson's partner Det. Falon who's as honest as the day is long has no idea of Levinson's corruption. When Det. Falon find's his partner Det. Levinson stabbed to death outside a bar, were they were at drinking the night away, he goes nuts and attacks and beats to death the man on the scene Winch. Winch who was not responsible for Levinson's murder was in fact there to get him to turn and gives up the names of his fellow drug-dealing corrupt cops.

With the help of striper and girlfriend Sally, Mimi Craven, Falon has Winch's body put in a car and drives down to the docks dumping it in San Francisco Bay feeling that the "cop killer" got just what he deserved. What Falon doesn't know is that the two cops later put on the case of Leinson's murder Holloway & Orlanski, Dan Lauria & Richard Gilliland, were the one's who murdered him.

It's not until much later that Falon realizes that his partner was dirty when he was assigned together with rookie detective Michael Murrow, Esai Morales, on the Winch case and tries to cover-up his involvement in Winch's death. Falon's new partner senses that he's anything but interested in finding Winch's killer and slowly puts two and two together.

The two dirty cops, Holloway & Orlaski, trying to cover up their role in both Levinson murder, whom they killed fearing that he's about to turn evidence on them, as well as their drug dealings. The two crooked cops set up ex-con Jerome Johnson, Perry Moore, by breaking into his apartment and planting drugs there and then, to make it look like a drug hit, brutally murdering him and his wife! This happens right in front of the couples two year old son in one of the most shocking and sickening murders scenes ever put in a movie.

Not satisfied with killing Levinson and Johnson, together with his wife, Holloway and Orlanski get to Falon's girlfriend Sally, who was a junkie and being supplied with her drugs by the late Det. Levinson. The two corrupt cops stick a needle in Sally's arm forcing her to overdose not realizing, by sticking the needle in her left arm, that she's left-handed! Which would make it physically impossible and which also alerts Falon, who finds her body, that Sally was in fact murdered and didn't kill herself voluntary or by accident.

Falon begins to come to his senses when he's later approached at his old watering hole by Holloway and Orlanski and asked to join them in their drug dealing operation. Falon angrily refuses but now he knows that like his partner the late Sam Levinson that he knows too much and is now a marked man.

Meanwhile Det. Murrow, now a lot smarter and wiser, by getting to know what his partner Falon is all about confronts Falon about Winch's death only to get knocked out and cuffed to a sink at the bar that Falon was at. With Falon now smashed from his drinking, but with a full head of steam, goes outside to meet Holloway and Orlanski knowing that no matter what happens he'll end up on the losing end.

Tough and uncompromising movie about police corruption with Sam Elliott as the old veteran who thinks he's seen and knows everything about crime and police work but has a lot to learn. Still he overlooks his partners Det. Levinson, whom he worked with for 20 years, secret life as a drug dealer that not only leads to him murdering an innocent man but ending up being killed himself.

average

[mattkratz · 7/10 · 3 November 2019]

I was a little confused by this movie. I thought it was decent with the action scenes and good performances, especially Elliott in the lead, and story of an officer after drug dealers and dealing with a new partner. If you like police movies, you might like this one.

** out of ****

Detectives on different paths

[tonopah6 · 8/10 · 14 September 2002]

From the start you will like Sam Elliott's character (Falon) : a trustworthy cop that is notably loyal to his partner. But too loyal, and too revengeful when seeing his partner dead in an alley, cause he then kills who he thought to be the assailant before giving him a chance to explain. Falon is an alcoholic, and that tends to sway him from being in self control, though he manages to direct his attention towards finding who's really behind his partners death. He carries along a rookie as his new partner (which seems to be seen too often in films) but Esai Morales does well in accompanying Sam Elliot, though puzzling pieces begin to fit to where Morales begins a self-approved investigation towards Falon; he mainly wants to find the answers since Fallon isn't letting him in on the whole story, and does not like what he finds. There is not a last minute showing at who the bad detectives are, which is okay; and they are not able to sway Falon into joining them, leading to a dramatic ending. Fine acting all the way around, with a touch of humor from Paul Sorvino who is the captain of detectives. It's a good movie that will make you want to see it several times; so it qualifies as a -must see-, and a good addition to a movie collection! (Filmed in San Francisco)

Great Neo-Noir!

[vnssyndrome89 · 7/10 · 16 July 2023]

DOG WATCH (Video 1997)

BASIC PLOT: Charlie Falon (Sam Elliott) is an impudent, hard-nosed detective, who's seen to much on the streets of San Francisco. Now, his partner's been murdered, and he thinks he's taken care of the problem, but maybe it's his temper that's that's taken care of him. His new partner, Murrow (Esai Morales) is an Idealist, and has landed in a rabbit hole of corruption and murder. Can he survive the shadow world around him long enough to find out who his real enemies are?

WHAT WORKS: *Everything

*The score is perfect for a neo-noir! It has lots of steamy saxophone, it's a great background for this type of movie.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *Paul Sorvino has one monologue that doesn't work. It's a rant, and it seems contrived and forced.

*This movie needs a new name! "Dog Watch," tells you nothing about this movie, and makes you think it has to do with something else entirely.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *I would definitely recommend this movie to fans of neo-noir, Sam Elliott Esai Morales, and to people who don't need a happy ending.

CLOSING NOTES: *This is a Straight-to-Video movie, please keep that in mind before you watch\rate it. Straight-to-Video movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews. Hope I helped you out.

Straight to DVD but no garbage stuff

[searchanddestroy-1 · 7/10 · 6 June 2022]

Bland, lousy directing but rather efficient story that deserves to be seen for those in search of rogue, borderline cops. In those nineties, you could find this kind of material from time to time with luck and patience. Sam Elliot is adequate in this cop character, old timer heat, rough, brutal, tough, disillusioned. Nearly a cliché for this kind of stuff, which is I repeat rather efficient and downbeat.

Excellent

[radarsmith · 8/10 · 15 October 2000]

A "sleeper". I had never even heard of this movie until I was channel jumping one night. I've been a police officer myself for 25 years and thought this was a true to life movie. Non-police critics are rating the movie purely from a critic's point of view and not from a police officer's point of view. This is real.

Suprisingly good but dark crime drama

[sonofsmog · 8/10 · 5 February 2004]

Sam Elliot is brilliant as a tough San Francisco Detective Charlie Fallon. When his partner is killed while meeting with an informant Fallon snaps, beats the informant to death, and dumps his body in a river. The next day Fallon is assigned a rookie partner, and given the task of investigating the informants murder. Sam Elliot does a good job of portraying a man who tortured by the guilt of his own murderous actions, and grief over the death of his partner who may have been involved in police corruption.

Worth watching for Sam alone!

[dmford · 8/10 · 31 January 2005]

I'm rating this pretty high just because of Sam Elliott. I could've done without the female nudity but I'd sit through almost any nonsense in order to see Sam strut his stuff. He gets to spout wonderfully cynical witticisms, many of which I agree with, and it's a joy to see him in a role in which he actually gets to emote instead of just standing around scowling and looking virile as can be. My boyfriend opined that this movie is in a couple of ways similar to a film in which Ed Harris had a Hispanic partner (in the police sense of the term!) who was a little overeager to prove himself. You can draw your own conclusions on that score but if you like Sam, you'll like this. You could say I'm biased, but who isn't in some way? I'd buy this on DVD in a heartbeat!

Absolutely terrific .........

[merklekranz · 8/10 · 12 August 2019]

Sam Elliott is tough, uncompromising, sexist, stubborn, and an honest cop. "Dogwatch" is an excellent police corruption film. It takes it's time to establish characters, and the story is complex enough to maintain interest. Not for the squeamish, the violence is pretty brutal. What holds things together is the outstanding performance by Elliott. His sexist conversation with his partner's wife at the dinner table will most likely make any females in the audience ultra uncomfortable. It alone is worth the price of admission. I am definitely pounding the table for this little known movie. If you would like to entertain your male friends with something truly entertaining, get "Dogwatch" and watch it. ......... MERK

Nifty cop action item

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 22 December 2021]

Rough'n'tumble old school sexist and racist veteran detective Charlie Falon (well played with mucho macho crusty conviction by Sam Elliott) finds his partner dead in an alley. An enraged Falon beats to death the man he thinks is responsible for his partner's death and dumps the body in the river. Falon and his new straight-arrow partner Mike Murrow (a fine and likeable performance by Esai Morales) are assigned to investigate the man's murder. It turns out the guy was an undercover cop.

Director John Langley relates the enjoyable and absorbing story at a snappy pace, maintains a tough gritty tone throughout, makes nice use of the San Francisco locations, stages the exciting fights and shootouts with skill and flair, and tosses in some tasty gratuitous female nudity for trashy good measure. The sturdy cast rates as another substantial asset: Paul Sorvino as huffy police captain Delgoti, Dan Lauria as brutal corrupt cop Halloway, Jessica Steen as Murrow's liberated wife Janet, Richard Gilliland as Halloway's equally crooked partner Orlanser, and Mimi Craven as pathetic junkie Sally. Perfectly grim bummer ending, too. A cool little flick.

Great movie superb acting

[solomonfrazier · 8/10 · 23 October 2022]

Sam Elliott and Kristen Miller as Sally wow... the entire cast did a good job delivering a first class movie. It's a found movie for me, a DVD. I couldn't get over how well Sally did her part. I don't understand why I haven't seen her in other movies. The movie is obviously low budget but the action is high paced and edge of your seat anticipation. This is a DVD I will ad to my collection of treasures especially since I was born and raised in San Francisco when the city had spirit and atmosphere. My brother was a cop there, so this movie has special meaning. All I can say is job well done for sure.