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The Enforcer (1976)
The third installment of the famed "Dirty Harry" series just so happens to come in the form of 1976's "The Enforcer". Clint Eastwood of course returns to reprise his most famous role of police Lieutenant Harry Callahan the strong arm of the law with the .44 Magnum. In the original "Dirty Harry" we saw Harry Callahan try his hand against a ruthless psychopath in the form of "Scorpio". The second time around in "Magnum Force" we saw Harry battle against a vigilante squad of San Francisco motorcycle cops. But the fact that Callahan "Always gets the shit end of the stick" means that he'll be back just a few more times to clean up the punks on the street.
In "The Enforcer" Inspector Harry Callahan dishes out his usual brand of justice to be expected and starts out immediately by violently stopping a holdup of a liquor store. Of course his Captain decides to take action and takes him out of the Homicide division and into Personnel (which gets a classic reaction in the film), which doesn't last. He's brought back because there is a group of terrorists that rob an arms warehouse and steal some pretty heavy artillery. After that occurs they end up demanding $2 million in the city's money before they decide to start having even more catastrophic attacks. At the same time Harry is paired up with a female partner Kate Moore (Tyne Daly) on the case which makes the situation even more interesting.
Although this installment of the "Dirty Harry" series is a decent one, it's not one of the best. It suffers in the fact that it feels incredibly rushed especially after the first two films. Originally "Dirty Harry" was saying something about society and showing a new type of law enforcement that many people echoed the sentiments of. "Magnum Force" was a flip flop in many ways to what the first film was even to challenge the character of Harry Callahan. But "The Enforcer" comes off a bit too much like filler from the first two movies than it does a film on it's own. The meager 97 minute running time doesn't allow it the luxury of adding something cool or funny about the character of Dirty Harry like the other films do and although I did like the addition of the female partner into the story, it felt rushed too. Daly and Eastwood do play off each other well, but that's only when they are given time on screen together which is very little. Eastwood is what you would expect in the role of Harry Callahan but it's a shame that this one did very little to further the character unlike the first two films.
The new Warner Bros DVD is stacked with extras including a commentary from director James Fargo, "The Business End: Violence in Cinema" featurette about violence in film, the "Harry Callahan/Clint Eastwood: Something Special in Films" featurette about the merger of Charismatic Leading Man and Character in film, as well as Dirty Harry movie trailers.
Overall I would say that even though this is one of my least favorite entries into the Dirty Harry series I would say that it's at least worth a look. There is something here interesting it's just a bit disappointing considering how good the films were that came before it. But it is an entertaining way to spend 97 minutes even if it does having you wanting a bit more from it.
Rating - **1/2
-Ed Demko
