CHiPS

2017’s “CHiPS”, written and directed by Dax Shepard.

Starring Dax Shepard, Michael Pena, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Brody, Isiah Whitlock Jr, Kristen Bell, Rosa Salazar, and Jessica McNamee.

Hollywood loves recycling. Reboots, sequels, prequels, adaptations from television shows: all grist for the mill of Tinseltown.
It’s not hard to see why: you take an already established (and successful) blueprint, and throw a "adapted from television" or “part 2” on it to market to your target audience.
CHIPS the television show (when not replacing it’s stars due to contract disputes) was always a buddy-cop dynamic accompanied by some action scenes where the bad guys get blown away- a format perfected by auteurs such as Shane Black in his “Lethal Weapon” series and Walter Hill’s “48 Hours” series.

But current tastes sometimes will also sneak into the present/future nostalgia. The “48 Hours” time period depicted was blatantly racist and sexist, with black people treated not much differently than a hundred years ago, and with women around to scream in distress and provide company when the lights went down. Here, we see the opportunity for homophobia to be discussed amongst the sexism and very casual relationships, somewhat of a shallow call to evolution.

In “CHiPS” we meet Michael Pena’s character, an FBI agent fond of both going undercover and casual relationships with the opposite sex. We know that he’s good at his job, since when during a getaway he gives fellow thieves advice on how to hang on to roof handles in a car- and they follow it... He gets a new assignment, where he is placed on a California Highway Patrol unit where it’s suspected rogue officers (D'Onofrio, McNamee) are using company means to make themselves rich in the drug trade through the transport of art pieces as money laundering. Shepard, who has damaged his body from his high jump exploits as an ex-daredevil, evil knievel type, is presented as going through some serious marital difficulties, and joins the force to try to repair his marriage. The bro pair form an awkward couple at first, with Shepard having a handle on speaking like a therapist and being comfortable enough in his sexuality to comment on Pena’s dislike of his bro inspired embraces while barely clothed. However, Shepard’s observations on Pena’s relationship patterns and knowledge of crime scene analysis and motorcycle logistics prove worthy, and the 2 eventually resemble superheroes once the FBI’s budget is tapped. Somewhat close to the spirit of the “21 Jump Street” movies but closer to “Pineapple Express”, “CHiPS” has it’s funny moments, but will be tough to remember once the rubber hits the road.

3/5

Trailer: Click Here.