Ah the tried and true Cop movie formula, grizzled veteran forced to work with a rookie that is book smart, but has no experience. The former never likes the rookie, mainly because they are green behind the ears, and know the law, but have never enforced it. The rookie continues to try and prove themselves, but in vain until later in the movie when the rookie does something to show they can be just as grizzled as the senior. Follow that scene up with a "Louis, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship" kind of scene and you have yourself a cop movie.
This formula gets used in The Enforcer (1976), the third movie in the classic Dirty Harry series. For this feature the grizzled veteran is (of course) 'Dirty' Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood), who is forced to work with a new partner, rookie homicide detective Kate Moore (Tyne Daly).
The movie is standard Dirty Harry fare, Harry foils a crooks plan using his own brand of bad assery, then uncovers a grander plot. Along the way Harry clashes with his superiors, yet continues to do his job. The main difference is the romantic subplot, true there was one in Magnum Force (1973) but this one is different because the context is not a horny neighbor, but instead a cute partner, who Harry takes a liking too because she doesn't take his crap. And she falls for him because... well... in movies every girl falls for the bad boy with good intentions.
Beyond the obvious formulas, the movie is not bad. The villains are a group of terrorists who have been bombing buildings and taking hostages, all the while extorting the city like Scorpio in the first movie. Although the villains are slightly more fleshed out than those in Magnum Force, they are better because unlike Magnum Force, you can't see justification to their actions. These people aren't violating the laws to try and defeat other lawbreakers, they're breaking the law to get money, a much more malicious pursuit.
Clint Eastwood brings the same ferocity to the role that he brought in DH and MF, no doubt about that. But it's not a truly great performance.
More impressive in this movie was Tyne Daly, who shows a nice range of emotion and a nice arc of maturation from beginning to end, developing the streetwise skills she needs to not only defeat terrorists, but to also win the heart of Harry Callahan. Daly was a strong counter balance to Harry, providing a female edge to an otherwise testosterone laden movie.
Overall, the movie is pretty good. It's not the best in the series, but it's not the worst. I do recommend the movie, but I recommend Dirty Harry more.
Dr. Brooklyn says: LIKE this movie (8/10)
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