The Presidio (1988)

Mark Harmon is "Jay", a former military policeman turned cop who is called upon to investigate a series of murders that reintroduce him to his former CO "Col. Caldwell" (Sean Connery) with whom he doesn't especially get along. It doesn't help when he starts to date the colonel's independently minded daughter "Donna" (Meg Ryan) but can they put their differences aside long enough to find out what's going on and stop any more killings? Well, of course they can - this film has precisely no jeopardy at all. Though the motive for the crimes remains a mystery for a while, the rest of this follows a well travelled line that is disappointingly predictable. Harmon is never a particularly strong or convincing actor, Connery - and his traditional, wry, smile - clearly just wanted his fee and not for the first time Meg Ryan adds very little as this plods along. It's watchable on the television over a glass or two, but it's all very unremarkable.

Occasionally my mother would really get into a movie, choose a quote as a favorite, and then repeat it constantly in a cartoonish exaggeration of whoever said it in the film. The Persidio is one of those films she latched onto, and for years after we were subjected to her Sean Connery impression as she threatened to beat us up using only her thumb. So now every time I see it, heck, every time I'm in Frisco, that is the quote that gets stuck in my head for days after. But, in her defense, it was a very good scene and actually does deserve to be remembered and quoted more. It's my go to Sean Connery impression... when I'm not impersonating Johnny Lee Miller impersonating Sean Connery. Or the Untouchables, but I kind of feel that one is over used. Everyone goes there when they do Connery. Or, you know, I could just live in Chicago. Maybe the rest of the country and the world just does James Bond. The point is, you have a quotable Sean Connery scene. And that alone is worth it. And you have the San Francisco chase scene, and I really hate Frisco, but I do really love movies that are set there and any chase through San Francisco streets is fun if for no other reason than it makes you instantly think of Bullet. The multi-jurisdictional cliche thing is here, and tragically underused in a lot of movies. But you get a good dynamic of military and civilian cop bumping heads with one another. It's a situation that is made worse by bad blood and a bit of history, and then made even worse by a blooming romantic interest. And it's the 80s, so you know that the romantic interest is going to be Meg Ryan, no spoiler there. And all of that with an actual compelling case that the two cops have to solve. It's kind of all over the place, but in the best possible 80s cliche kind of way.

"The Presidio" is an interesting diversion that has an immediately intriguing and literally explosive opening gambit which is eye catching and it easily grabs your full attention, but then the pace quickly eases up out of pure necessity and the murder of Patti Jean Lynch loses all sense of urgency and it is eventually relegated to becoming a secondary consideration as the main focus of the film now concentrates upon the complex and argumentative character dynamics of Lieutenant Colonel Caldwell, his daughter Donna, and Inspector Jay Austin although all of this is nicely juxtaposed with the ongoing murder investigation. However, this film is much too pedestrian for the talented cast involved, but at least the action sequences are superb and the pace is extremely well maintained throughout.