The Dead Pool (1988)

Directed by Buddy Van Horn. Starring Clint Eastwood, Patricia Clarkson, Evan C. Kim, Liam Neeson, David Hunt, Michael Currie, Michael Goodwin, Ronnie Claire Edwards, Jim Carrey. [R]

Fifth and final Dirty Harry picture doesn’t end the series on a high note. It’s short and forgettable, with an inane premise where a killer seems to be working off a list devised by a “dead pool” game (participants gamble on what celebrity figure will be the next to die). Aside from a few choice sarcastic wisecracks, Eastwood may as well be playing a generic cop hero, and the mystery trying to figure out who’s responsible is so plodding that it just gets in the way of the good parts, however few there might be. The undercurrent of wit and self-awareness almost makes up for the rote storytelling and insipid villain, but ultimately, there are just too many silly scenes to take any of it seriously (junkie rock star Carrey’s hammy lip-sync of Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle,” a chase on the streets of San Francisco involving an RC car, etc.). Second of three films directed by Van Horn, the others also being Eastwood star vehicles: Any Which Way You Can and Pink Cadillac.

54/100