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Dan Aykroyd, Tom Hanks, Christopher Plummer, Harry Morgan, Alexandra Paul ... see more see more... , Elizabeth Ashley , Jack O'Halloran , Dabney Coleman , Lisa Aliff , Fred Asparagus , Jim Boeke , Donald Craig , Gray Daniels , Sandra Eng , Ava Fabian , Kimberly Foster , Kathleen Freeman , Ruben Garfias , Bruce Gray , D.D. Howard , Peter Leeds , Margaret Lenzey , Lisa London , Maurice Marsac , Lenka Peterson , Casey Sander , Ray Sharkey , Jimmie F. Skaggs , Dona Speir , Bill Wittman , Meg Wyllie , Peter Aykroyd , Gary Lee Davis , Chester Grimes , Bert Hinchman , Julia Jennings , Christopher Mankiewicz , Stuart Quan , Julie Donald , Josh Cruze , Sydney Urshan

Dan Aykroyd must have practiced for months to perfect his Jack Webb inflections for Dragnet. Screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz's directorial debut (also written by Mankiewicz, along with Aykroyd, and Alan Z... read more read more...weibel) is a gentle spoof of the legendary '50s television police drama -- pitting '50s conservatism smack up against the attitudes of the '80s. Basically, the film is another 48 Hours or Beverly Hills Cop clone. Aykroyd stars as Joe Friday, the nephew of the original Friday. But with his brown suit, fedora, and lockjaw, he could just as well be the incarnation of Jack Webb. He is involuntarily assigned a smart alecky, street-wise partner, Pep Streebeck (Tom Hanks), and they are appointed to investigate a series of religious cult murders in L.A. The two cops follow the trail to a phony televangelist, the Reverend Jonathan Whirley (Christopher Plummer). From there, they are only at step away from uncovering an Orange County-based religious cult calling itself P.A.G.A.N. (People Against Goodness and Normalcy). After sneaking into a secret ceremony, Friday falls in love with the sacrificial victim Connie Swail (Alexandra Paul). So much so that even after his superior Captain Gannon (Harry Morgan, reprising his role from the '60s revival of the Dragnet program) orders him off the case, Friday continues on, with the requisite car chases and crashes that usually climax any '80s cop movie or comedy. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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31% want to see it

33,914 ratings

Critics

46% liked it

28 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 46 min.

Directed by: Tom Mankiewicz, Terry Leonard

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DVD Release Date: October 27, 1998

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Flixster Reviews (813)

  • phubbs1
    December 5, 2011
    phubbs1
    THANK GOD ITS FRIDAY!

    Classic 80's comedy with Hanks in his silly prime and Aykroyd when he was in everything haha.
    There are some genius moments of comedy gold in this film that just elevate it, its much like the 'Starsky n Hutch' or 'The Dukes of Hazzard' remakes in which they... read more sent up the original somewhat but keep it close to its original format in terms of concepts.

    Its really underrated and overlooked frankly, the pairing of Hanks n Aykroyd is fantastic, Aykroyd being so so funny as a stuck up jobsworth and Hanks is perfect in a slick laidback role much like his other 80's characters. Its all very cheesy but there's some good action in here, nice soundtrack and excellent cast, wish they made em like this still hehe.
  • fb100002359227440
    May 26, 2011
    fb100002359227440
    Why Mankiewicz?, Why Leonard?, Why Ackroyd?, Why Zweibel?, Why Dragnet is not so good?
  • cancercapricorn2002
    October 19, 2010
    cancercapricorn2002
    'Dragnet' is the movie Dan Aykroyd must have lived his whole life (up till then) to make. It is truly a moment of cosmic destiny that sees him donning the guise of Sgt. Joe Friday, nephew of the original, and it fits him like a glove, Aykroyd himself has never been better. The ma... read morechine-gun verbal delivery he honed to perfection on 'Saturday Night Live' is given its best showcase here, and even though Tom Hanks is on board as well and is very likable and funny, make no mistake- this is Dan Aykroyd's show all the way. The best moments of 'Dragnet' come when he spews his rapid-fire dialogue at anyone and everyone; quoting regulations, lecturing bad guys and co-workers alike on everything from sex to zoo animals, declaring his love for Los Angeles and its police department, and generally being so straight a straight-arrow, you wonder if he's ever told a lie in his life. Conviction is one thing that Aykroyd's Joe Friday is definitely not lacking. And that is really the fun of 'Dragnet;' it takes you inside Friday's world, a place without too much in common with modern-day reality, but a place he believes so firmly in that you can't help but be sucked inside. Hanks' Pep Streebeck is there as a sort of reminder of real life, and under other circumstances, the combination wouldn't work, but here it does. The plot involves a porn magazine publisher (Dabney Coleman) who is secretly in cahoots with a right-wing preacher (Christopher Plummer, of all people, doing a letter-perfect take-off of Pat Robertson). Aykroyd's Friday even has a love interest, the Virgin Connie Swail (Alexandra Paul) who is as off-the-wall in her own way as Friday is his, so they make an ideal couple. The film was only a modest hit, and it certainly wasn't Dan Aykroyd's most successful movie in terms of box-office but its in my eyes a classic comedy and worth checking out
  • SirPant
    September 29, 2009
    SirPant
    Silly and dated but loved as a child
  • Chiefilms
    July 9, 2009
    Chiefilms
    Funny movie version of the classic show. Great dry humor here throughout the whole film like a more deadpan/detective-like Fletch.
  • superclerk25
    April 26, 2008
    superclerk25
    Funny flick and one of the first tv to film adaptations I ever saw.
  • garyX
    July 14, 2007
    garyX
    Affectionate send-up of an old TV show that's never laugh out loud funny, but Ackroyd and Hanks make a reasonably amusing chalk and cheese double act, mainly because of Ackroyd's deadpan performance.
  • deano
    March 13, 2007
    deano
    Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks are good fun as the straight-by-the-book cop and his rather looser partner in this spoof film.
  • mjgildea
    November 20, 2006
    mjgildea
    A horrible classic from my childhood.
  • fb100002343630392
    July 7, 2011
    fb100002343630392
    a funny spoof movie that we will get kick out of it. B+

View All Dragnet Reviews

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
May 20, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

More innocuous than inventive. Full Review

Pat Graham
May 20, 2008
Pat Graham, Chicago Reader

Most of the time it's fresh, funny, and surprising. Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Mr. Aykroyd and Mr. Hanks play well together, but the funniest performance in the film is that of Dabney Coleman, as the smut king (who lisps). Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

The script is a gold mine of one-liners. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

It's fun a lot of the time. Several individual shots are hilarious. Full Review

Rita Kempley
January 1, 2000
Rita Kempley, Washington Post

Yes, it is lowbrow and sophomoric. What you'd call dumb-de-dumb-dumb fun. Full Review

May 20, 2008
TV Guide's Movie Guide

It simply doesn't come off, and the viewer will be left with an empty feeling, a vacuous notion that somehow the laugh scenes slipped by unnoticed. They were never really there. Full Review

Kim Newman
May 20, 2008
Kim Newman, Empire Magazine

Aykroyd's script has more than its share of clever, witty ideas, but the film still feels the need to descend way too often to Police Academy-style heroes-dress-up-like-idiots sequences. Full Review

May 20, 2008
Film4

Deservedly a critical and box-office fiasco. Full Review

Ken Hanke
May 24, 2006
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Annoying comedy.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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    • Narrator: The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. For example George Baker is now called Silvia Wiss.
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Dragnet Trivia

  • In the movie Dragnet, what was the name of Dragnet's love interest in the show.  Answer »
  • What Movie Starred Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd?  Answer »
  • who was the name of the two main officers in the movie dragnet  Answer »
  • In what movie did Tom Hanks play a character named Pep Streebeck and what year?  Answer »
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