Premise - After rogue cop Mitch Preston (Robert De Niro) shoots a TV camera whilst on a case he is forced into participating in a reality based TV show. He is reluctantly teamed up with patrol man Trey Sellars (Eddie Murphy) by the shows producer (Renne Russo). Showtime stinks of a wasted opportunity. Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro have been wanting to work together for a long time and you feel that they just decided to do this project because they got tired of waiting rather because of the quality of the script. It's a bit of a shame because the two show some real chemistry and in a better film could have pulled it off. Showtimes problems lie in it's pretensions. It starts off as thinly veiled parody of cliched buddy cop movies. Trey is a cop that wants to be an actor and Mitch is a cop who can't act (Oh, the irony). Indeed, one of the best parts of the movie concerns William Shatner as he gloriously sends up his own acting past as TJ Hooker. He plays himself as he is brought in to give tv cop acting lessons for both Trey and Mitch. However all clever digs at buddy cop films are abandoned about two thirds of the way through as the film turns into the very thing it was poking fun at, a cliched buddy cop movie. All the usual suspects are wheeled out. Bickering partners that eventually gain each others respect, a car chase, both parties being suspended by their captain, a low rent euro-trash foreign bad guy, lead female being taken hostage by said bad guy and a ridiculous over-the-top finale. It's depressingly by the numbers stuff, especially since the earlier parts of the movie at least showed some promise. The script was worked on by four different writers, so it might be prudent to assume that maybe the studio had a small hand in changing the later stages of the film. Perhaps they felt that audiences wouldn't get the subtle swipes at the genre and needed a wham bam thank you mam finale. It's only speculation of course, but it might be the case. The film is yet another disappointment in what is becoming to commonplace for an actor of De Niro's calibre. Rocky & Bullwinkle, 15 Minutes, Men Of Honor all average to poor. Only Meet The Parents and The Score were of note form his recent output. Eddie Murphy too is in need of a (live action) hit, his career has coughed and spluttered out some terrible claptrap of late. Director Tom (Shanghai Noon) Dey shows some flair in the directors chair, but he is clearly being reined in by the lacklustre script. It's hard to understand why Murphy and De Niro chose this script, it's just so subpar. Showtime is a misjudged idea that has promise, but ultimately doesn't deliver. Hopefully Murphy and De Niro will work together again as they do have some chemistry. It's a sad day when the best thing in a Robert De Niro film is an appearance by William Shatner as himself.

4/10 for Showtime. Poster Quote - The show mustn't go on.