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  ╭ ╭╮ Hollywood Homicide is a fast paced action comedy that provides a
  ╭╭ │ rare inside look at the professional and personal lives of two
  ││ │ Los Angeles Police Department officers. Harrison Ford stars as
  ╯╯⊿  Joe Gavilan, a hard-nosed veteran. He is paired with one of today’s
    ◎    fastest rising young talents, Josh Hartnett, as his reluctant partner
   ╭╮   K.C. Calden, who is more interested in teaching yoga and pursuing an
   ││   acting career than he is in detective work.
   ╰╯
  ╭─╮  Director, co-writer and producer Ron Shelton explores the practice
  │╭╯  law enforcement in the glamour capital, scraping away the glitz to
  │↓    reveal what’s underneath.
  ╰─╯
    ●    "There is an absurdity to L.A. that I find attractive," says Shelton.
   ╭╮   "Los Angeles isn’t really a city in the normal sense, and movies
   ││   aren’t really made in Hollywood. That is, if you can even find
   ╰╯   Hollywood."
    ╭╮
      │  The other milieu Shelton explores is the driving and sometimes
  ╭→│  chaotic world of the recording industry, in particular the hip-hop
  │（│  music scene, where the killing of a fictitious rap music group
  ╰─╯  seems culled from today’s headlines.
  ╭─╮
  │╭│  After hearing veteran homicide investigator Robert Souza’s stories
  │┌╯  of his colorful career at the Hollywood division of the LAPD,
  ╰─╯  Hollywood Homicide producer Lou Pitt was intrigued by the private side
          of a policeman’s life, an environment movies rarely explore.
          "It was the personal stuff they have to deal with while they’re
          trying to solve crimes that I found really compelling," says Pitt.
          "I wanted to know more about who these guys are and to make a film
          that showed their personal lives in a way we’ve never seen before.
          Like too many of us, they have to find a way to juggle the demands
          of their work and their lives."

          Souza says he was influenced by another ex-LAPD policeman turned
          author, Joseph Wambaugh (The Onion Field, The New Centurions), who
          also combined his professional exploits as a detective with compelling
          personal stories. Like the central characters in Hollywood Homicide,
          Souza regularly had side jobs while he was serving with the LAPD.
          Where did he find the time? "When you’re on an intense case,
          you rack up tremendous overtime, so you end up with a lot of time off
          and that creates opportunities for other activities," Souza explains.
          "Throughout my career, I worked at everything from real estate
          to private security to repossessing cars. And I worked with guys
          who were cabinet makers, certified public accountants
          and tennis pros."

          The discussions between Souza and Pitt prompted Pitt to recall
          the time he cameinto contact with a police officer, who was also
          pursuinganother vocation. "Once my home was burglarized and
          when the police investigator learned I was in the movie business,
          he wanted to know if I was an agent. I told him I was. He excused
          himself, went to his car and pulled a script out of the trunk of
          his carand asked me to read it. He said if I didn’t
          like this draft he had several other versions," Pitt laughs.

          It’s a much more common experience than most people realize,
          according to Souza, especially for cops on the beat in Hollywood.
          "I once had a partner who wanted to be an actor. He carried
          8 x 10 glossyhead shots around with him to hand out
          to entertainment industry people with whom he came into contact."

          Another aspect of Souza’s experience that intrigued Pitt was his
          occasional clashes with the LAPD’s Internal Affairs Division,
          an element that became a major plot thread in the screenplay Souza and
          Shelton eventually wrote. "Bob headed a lot of high profile cases,
          and during his investigations, Internal Affairs was constantly
          looking over his shoulder," says Pitt.

          "I’ve had a controversial career, so I was ducking internal affairs
          on several occasions," Souza confesses.
          "It was never anything illegal, just simply things
          that didn’t always conform precisely to department policy."

          Pitt introduced Souza to Shelton, who was also taken by the former
          policeman’s stories, so much so he hired Souza as a technical
          consultant on Dark Blue, a gritty take on the LAPD based on
          a James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential) story. It was during production
          on Dark Blue that Shelton and Souza began to discuss
          Hollywood Homicide.

          In his interactions with Souza and other retired detectives,
          Shelton learned "that there’s a whole comic side to the very serious
          jobs these people do. The genesis of Hollywood Homicide was born out
          of anecdotes from men and women who had spent their lives solving
          crimes in a land they described in shorthand as ‘blue skies,
          palm trees and dead bodies.’
          "Many of the most absurd situations in the film actually
          come from their real experiences," Shelton avers.

          After production wrapped on Dark Blue, Shelton and Souza began
          concentrating on Hollywood Homicide.
          "We actually wrote it together, though not in the same room,"
          says Souza. "Sometimes we were hundreds of miles apart,
          using faxes, e-mails and cell phones. Still, it was a total
          collaboration. Ron brought his magical touch to the story
          and the actors have helped us make it even richer."

          Shelton and Pitt took their idea to Joe Roth, founder of Revolution
          Studios and executive producer of Hollywood Homicide.
          ""Ron has an uncanny ability to make ordinary characters in everyday
          situations both memorable and relatable. Here was a story that
          was funny and dramatic, with tragic moments and tons of action. It
          was a very satisfying mixture of genres," says Roth,
          who had first worked with Shelton on White Men Can’t Jump.
          "I immediately suggested Harrison Ford for the role of Joe as well as
          Josh Hartnett,who had just done Black Hawk Down for us,
          for the part of K.C. Calden."

          "Joe's instinct to the casting of the principle talent was
          right on the money,"says Pitt,
          "because it gave us an added dimension and the ability to
          appeal to the multigenerational design of the film and
          of the audience."

          Ford was immediately intrigued by Shelton and Souza’s
          offbeat tale. "Hollywood Homicide is the kind of story I’m always
          looking for but rarely find – a great blend of reality,
          action and humor. The film interweaves several thematic elements,
          bringing different threads together.
          The relationships between the characters have pop and sizzle to them."

          As played by Ford, Joe Gavilan is complex and multi-faceted,
          courageous, yet vulnerable, flexible at times, hard headed at others,
          very capable, but sometimes overwhelmed.
          Ford approached him as a "man who’s better at work than he is at
          life. He’s living on the edge, drinking a bit too much,
          staying up too late and in pretty desperate circumstances.
          He’s got several hundred dollars worth of dry cleaning in hock.
          And to top it off, he’s being investigated by his own department
          at the same time as he’s on a major homicide investigation."

          The character of K.C. Calden is a headache for Gavilan,
          a young detective who seems to be interested in everything
          but police work.
          Hartnett saw K.C. as an opportunity to create a fully rounded,
          reality-based character.
          While working as a cop, Calden busily pursues such avocations as
          teaching yoga and acting – though he keeps those sidelines secret.
          "Joe has no idea about K.C.’s alter ego as a yoga instructor,"
          says Hartnett."That part of him is really relaxed and cool,
          spiritual, though the women in his class often get in the way of his
          spiritual path."

          As Shelton explained to his two leads, one of his intentions in
          Hollywood Homicide was to revisit the buddy/cop movie,
          "to serve the genre and, at the same time, bring something different
          to the dance. Joe and K.C. are both detectives, but they have
          completely different priorities.
          So you’ve got these multiple agendas going on while a major crime
          is being investigated and there’s always some other distraction
          going on in the background. There’s a madness, a sublime madness
          as the case and their lives start to spin out of control."

          To prepare for their roles, Ford and Hartnett visited the
          Los Angeles Police Academy firing range and observed the inner
          workings of LAPD’s Hollywood division headquarters.
          On set, they barraged Souza and the other police consultants
          with questions about procedure as well as more personal questions
          regarding the balance between pursuing criminals and maintaining
          a life that is separate from their work.

          The generational and attitudinal differences between
          Gavilan and Calden are the focus of a great deal of comic friction
          in the film. "Our two characters don’t really understand each other,"
          says Hartnett, "and that’s the source of a great deal of the humor."

          Though Souza says that while there are elements of his personality
          in both the older and younger detective, Gavilan and Calden’s stormy
          working relationship was definitely informed by his personal
          experiences.
          "When I was a young detective, I sometimes was impatient with older,
          less motivated detectives," he confesses.
          "Years later, as a senior investigator, I was sometimes put off
          by the younger, more impulsive guys. And I admit I wasn’t always as
          patient with them as I could have been."

          Beyond the selection of the film’s two leading men, Shelton was
          careful to cast the other roles with an eye toward accurately
          capturingthe variety and vibrancy of the L.A. experience.
          "One of the aspects I find fascinating about Los Angeles is its
          incredible mix of societies, cultures, values, races, nationalities,
          neighborhoods, dreams and schemes," says Shelton. "Somehow they manage
          to co-exist, sometimes harmoniously, sometimes not.
          The city’s diversity is one of L.A.’s greatest strengths."

          Shelton approached actress Lena Olin to portray Ruby, the successful,
          sexy radio psychic who gives personal and professional comfort
          to Ford’s character.
          An Oscar nominated actress, who currently appears on the popular
          "Alias" television series, Olin prepared for the offbeat role by
          "catching all the radio psychics and even talk show hosts – everyone
          from the pet psychic to Dr. Phil -just to get a feel for how they talk
          and address issues."

          Bruce Greenwood, who convincingly portrayed President John F. Kennedy
          in the Cold War era drama Thirteen Days, portrays Bennie Macko,
          the head of Internal Affairs.
          He signed on because "The chance to work with good material and
          a strong cast under a talented director doesn’t come along as often
          as you might think, and this project had all these ingredients,"
          says Greenwood. "I’ve wanted to work with Harrison and Ron
          for a long time and to have the opportunity all at once was
          a real treat, I enjoyed every minute of it and
          I’d gladly go back for more."

          Hollywood Homicide takes the audience behind the scenes in the
          music industry and one of its principal players is record company
          executive Antoine Sartain, played by actor Isaiah Washington,
          who describes his character as "dynamic, complicated, emotional,
          flawed and sometimes brilliant." Though his character could have
          been reduced to the standard bad guy,
          thanks to the film’s precise writing and direction,
          Washington says he was able "to hit beats that haven’t
          been seen before. Sartain is a man who pokes fun at himself,
          even when he’s under extreme duress. At the same time,
          his version of tough love can be murder."

          There’s a reason why the villain is sometimes the most
          fascinating character in a film and for Washington it all comes
          down to the character’s humanity.
          "Sartain’s like J.R. Ewing on "Dallas," in that he really believes
          everything he does is right.
          That makes him both more human and more flawed."

          The depth and detail that Shelton and Souza brought to even
          the secondary characters in Hollywood Homicide is what drew
          country singer turned actor Dwight Yoakam to the project.
          Yoakam portrays Leroy Wasley, an ex-cop who works for Sartain.
          "The comedy in the film is sometimes crazy and ridiculous,
          but it always comes from a real place," says Yoakam.

          Lolita Davidovich was cast in the film’s other key female role, Cleo.
          The actress, who has had starring roles in four previous Ron Shelton
          films, including her breakthrough performance in Blaze,
          describes Cleo as "a modern-day madam in Los Angeles, a city in which
          some consider it a worthy profession. She is in a rather desperate
          bind and needs Gavilan’s help. And he needs hers. They are a match
          , similar in many ways, both strong, intelligent and possessing
          great survival instincts."

          Oscar winner Martin Landau plays the faded movie producer
          Jerry Duran, whose magnificent mansion may help Gavilan get out
          of his financial bind – if he can secure it as a real estate listing.
          The Hollywood veteran says he drew upon many real life producers in
          shaping his portrayal. "Duran’s an extravagant Hollywood producer who
          has fallen on hard times," explains Landau. "His day has
          passed, but he still has attitude. I’ve been in Hollywood a long
          time, so I had countless role models for inspiration."

          Among Ford and Hartnett’s police cronies is Lou Diamond Phillips
          (Courage Under Fire). When Shelton asked to meet with the actor about
          playing a vice squad officer, he told him "there’s just one little
          catch," Phillips recalls. "Could you
          please show up in a skirt, hose and heels, wig and makeup?
          The character’s called Wanda." With the help of his wife, a makeup
          artist, Phillips was transformed, and drove to the audition in drag,
          "praying all the way that my car didn’t break down on the
          freeway," he laughs,"though I did look pretty good if I do say
          so myself."

          Since the world of popular music is a vital element in
          Hollywood Homicide, director Shelton instructed casting director
          Ed Johnston to scope the rock and hip-hop world
          for performers capable of handling straight acting roles.
          R&B legend Gladys Knight flew in from Las Vegas to audition
          for the role of Olivia Robidoux, the mother of K-RO (KURUPT)
          a young rap-song writer who is the only witness to the murders
          Gavilan and Calden are investigating. She says she was unsure whether
          she had a shot at the part, until Shelton said to her,
          "You’re Gladys Knight! I should be auditioning for you!"
          After her reading, he hired her on the spot.

          KURUPT, aka Ricardo Brown, had previously worked with Shelton
          on Dark Blue. "I do a lot of running in this one,"
          says the popular rapper. "K-RO’s got the killers and the cops
          chasing him. Worst part for me was being chased through the
          Venice canals. Other than a bath, I’m not a big fan of water.
          I don’t even like standing in the rain," says KURUPT,
          who did many of his own stunts for the film.


          rapper and entrepreneur was cast as Julius Armas,
          owner of the club where the big murder takes place.
          Master P, who also appeared in Dark Blue, says, "Julius is
          just another person to be interrogated until Gavilan
          learns I've got lots of extra cash and am in the market to
          buy a big mansion. Then I get some respect."

          Motown great Smokey Robinson, makes his acting debut as
          a cabbie whose vehicle is commandeered by Gavilan in the film’s
          climactic chase up Hollywood Boulevard.
          Frank Sinatra, Jr. who has only acted in one other film
          during his career, was cast as attorney Marty Wheeler,
          who simultaneously represents both buyer and seller in the biggest
          real estate prospect of Gavilan’s part-time career. As Landau
          points out, this scenario is not that far-fetched in Hollywood.
          "It really happens in the movie business. The producer and
          the actor he’s negotiating to hire can be represented by
          the same lawyer. I’ve never understood it, but I’ve seen
          it many times."

          Other roles were filled by Andre Benjamin, aka Dre, of the
          innovative music group Outkast, and renowned rap music producer
          Kevin Law. The 504 Boyz, a rising rap group from Louisiana, play
          the musicians who are killed at the outset of the movie.
          The group is comprised of Aywood Johnson (Magic),
          Jason Thibeau (T-Bo), Michael Wilson (Krazy),
          and Darwin Turner (Choppa).

          Shelton also managed to entice Hollywood veteran star Robert Wagner
          and former Monty Python founding member Eric Idle to make cameo
          appearances. Several of the usual suspects from Shelton’s unofficial
          repertory company also make appearances, including Jamison Jones,
          Gregg Daniel, Eloy Casados, Dennis Burkley, Tom Todoroff, Will Utay,
          Darrell Foster and Fred Lewis.



          source︰http://www.movieweb.com/movie/hollywoodhom/