The Mod Squad (film)

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The Mod Squad
Modsquadpost.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Scott Silver
Written by
Based on The Mod Squad (TV series)
by Bud "Buddy" Ruskin
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Ellen Kuras
Edited byDorian Harris
Music byBC Smith
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • March 26, 1999 (1999-03-26)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50 million [1]
Box office$15.4 million [1] [2]

The Mod Squad is a 1999 American action thriller film directed by Scott Silver and starring Claire Danes, Omar Epps and Giovanni Ribisi. Based on the television show of the same name, actors Peggy Lipton and Clarence Williams III (Julie and Linc in the series) make cameo appearances.

Contents

Plot

Julie Barnes, Pete Cochran and Lincoln Hayes are three minor delinquents who choose to become undercover cops in place of serving their jail terms. When their superior Capt. Adam Greer is murdered, the trio set out to find the real culprits.

Cast

Production

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Melissa Joan Hart and Milla Jovovich were considered for the part of Julie Barnes, but they all passed until Claire Danes eventually got cast. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris were offered the chance to direct the film, but turned it down in order to concentrate on making music videos instead; Scott Silver got the job.

Reception

The film was a box office bomb, grossing only $15.4 million out of its $50 million budget. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 3% of 63 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.1/10.The website's consensus reads: "The Mod Squad aims for stylish cool and thrilling adventure, but collapses in an incoherent jumble of dated source material and unintentional hilarity." [3] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 16 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". [4] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale. [5]

Awards

The film was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay, but lost out to another television show turned movie: Wild Wild West . At the 1999 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film was nominated for four awards: Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Danes), Worst Supporting Actor (Ribisi), and Worst Resurrection of a TV Show.

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References

  1. 1 2 "The Mod Squad (1999)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  2. "The Mod Squad". The Numbers. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  3. "The Mod Squad". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved May 28, 2022. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  4. "The Mod Squad". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  5. "Cinemascore :: Movie Title Search". CinemaScore . Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2019.