Merry & Messed Up: “Lethal Weapon”
Posted on 22. Dec, 2009 by Jef in Film, Merry & Messed Up
Look at the crazy!
So, I went toy shopping the other day. Have you guys been to Toys R Us lately? Monopoly has switched from paper money to Interac cards. What the hell is that? And why are there new faces on the Guess Who board? You telling me I spent twenty years memorizing those faces and learning how to palm Monopoly money for nothing? Well fine, hows about we play a game of Clue instead? Except in this new modern version, I kill myself in the basement with this laptop.
The 10th Day of Christmas: “Lethal Weapon”
In the first three minutes of Richard Donner’s Lethal Weapon, the Christmas setting gets established with “Jingle Bell Rock” crooning over an L.A. skyline, but the holiday sentiment is disrupted as the camera zooms into a penthouse loft where a topless blonde snorts a line of coke, ventures to the balcony, and jumps to her death. Three minutes. Take notes, kids. 1987 action flicks ain’t nuthing to mess with.
We’ve encountered this Christmas-is-a-time-for-suicide theme many times already in Merry and Messed Up, but it is especially fun when fleshed out by Mel Gibson, who we now know as actually really kind of crazy. And damn, when you look back at it, there’s crazy in his eyes in Lethal Weapon — Gibson plays Riggs, a cop harbouring a death wish after losing his wife. He’s not just one of those cops who takes unnecessary risks (oh but he’s that too), he’s actually suicidal, and one of the first character moments we get of Riggs is him sitting alone in his house, sticking a gun in his mouth and crying. It’s not much later he’s smacking himself in the face and begging bad guys to just shoot him already. Many films have copied this “shoot me” scenario to convey a character’s craziness, but never with the same strength of Gibson’s performance or depth.
Riggs is balanced out by Danny Glover as Murtaugh, a by-the-books cop and middle class family man who reviewers at the time all compared to Cosby. Murtaugh just turned 50 and his famous line is “I’m too old for this shit.” He has problems with his eldest daughter growing up sexy, he’s a ‘Nam vet, and he’s not sure if Riggs is fucking crazy or playing crazy to get pension — either way he wants out of this partnership. Hijinx! Can I say though, Lethal Weapon is awesome because even though it’s one of the classic black-cop/white-cop buddy flicks there’s not even one race joke here, neither from the characters nor the filmmakers.
The gulf between Riggs and Murtaugh is age, suicidal tendencies vs. fatherly instincts, and shooting skills. Oh, and jiu-jitsu — another way Lethal Weapon was ahead of its time is that the final fight with Gary Busey’s bad guy ends with Riggs’ failed attempt at an armbar, a roll into a guard position, and then a goddamn flawless triangle choke. Nobody knew anything about MMA back then, and The New York Times described the scene like this: “[Riggs'] way of winning a fight is to force his rival to the ground and attempt to crush him between his knees.” Haha.
Riggs we find out is former special forces, and both cops are haunted by Vietnam. They uncover a drug plot that’s tied to Murtaugh’s military past, and Glover does a great job of hinting at the hidden traumas beneath the character’s domestic stability. In a scene of cinematic and cultural catharsis, our heroes get separated and tortured — Riggs even by an Asian henchman. Then there’s this hammy but great rescue where Riggs busts through a door to save his partner, right after the line “There’s no more heroes left in the world.” Gibson, of course, is shirtless.
After winning, Riggs gives Murtaugh the bullet he planned to shoot himself with. They’ve both beaten their ‘Nam demons, they’ve both found a new friend, and through that Riggs finds what Murtaugh had but he didn’t — a reason to live. What’s left to do but eat some Christmas dinner?
Merry & Messed Up: Because I’m too old for this shit.
Anupa
Dec 23rd, 2009
This is great:
“Well fine, hows about we play a game of Clue instead? Except in this new modern version, I kill myself in the basement with this laptop.”