Watch to Watch: Sean Connery’s Action Thriller ‘The Presidio’

Mark Harmon is not an action hero. I’m sorry. He’s not. I like Mark Harman. Summer School? Yes. Classic. NCIS. Of course. But here? He’s entirely wrong for the part of a wise-cracking tough-as-nails San Fransisco Detective. He’s a good actor, no doubt, but he never once sells it in Peter Hyams‘s military murder mystery The Presidio. The whole smarmy in-on-the-joke vibe he has just fails the film almost every time he’s on screen. And when he yells at people? It’s just funny. You will actually laugh. You’re not supposed to, but you will.

And sure, the movie has other flaws, being another in a series of half-baked late 80s early 90s crime thrillers that never quite do better than be off the shelf late night rentals (that’s a late 80s early 90s video store reference). But whatever. There’s a classic charm to the silly diamond plot, and with Hyam’s terrific direction, The Presidio is a fun on-the-couch watch.

It starts with a shooting, a female MP (Jenette Goldstein) walking in on what she thinks is a petty break-in. It’s not. And we lose Goldstein just when she shows up. It stinks ‘coz she’s freakin’ very cool (even getting in a shot at some dude’s lack of manhood like she did in Aliens). After more MPs and soon the SFPD take up the chase, another cop is killed and the bad guys get away. Assigned to the mess is Detective Jay Austin (Harmon), a former MP who isn’t all that motivated to work the case with Lieutenant Colonel Alan Caldwell (Sean Connery), the base provost marshal. The two have bad blood and must find common ground in finding the killers. That’s not made easier when Austin hooks up with Caldwell’s daughter Donna (Meg Ryan).

The film is built around the mystery and the conflicts in personality between Caldwell and Austin, and while the mystery is pretty good, the personalities are fairly bland. I think the problem is the mystery is only a twenty minute story so it’s got to fill the time with distractions that don’t really serve the story like they should. For instance, Caldwell getting into a fight at a diner with some local thug who just randomly starts harassing the older officer. Caldwell beats him up with just his thumb and it’s about as believable as it looks, worse as Austin smugly observers the fight like he’s been through a dozen times before. Why is this in the movie? It doesn’t pay off later. it’s not like he uses his thumb for something else. It’s just, here’s Sean Connery beating up a guy in a diner. There a more moments like this that are meant to beef up the players in this cast, but don’t do much but distract from the main story.

However, when it gets to that, it works pretty well, Hyams knowing action like nobody’s business (he directed Connery in Outland, not to mention the terrific Jean-Claude Van Damme action flick Time Cop). There’s a pretty exciting car chase at the start and a very well choreograph foot chase in the streets of San Fransisco that is smart and dramatic. I would have liked more of that. And I’ll say, it was the one moment where I think maybe the casting of Harmon made sense, as he tries to be a badass with an action hero one-liner that gets him into trouble the moment he says it.

Connery is the best thing about the film, even as he leans heavy into the tried and true Connery-isms we all know and love. He’s never been one to sink that deeply into a part, I mean let’s face it, he’s Sean Connery in just about every role he’s played, but that’s why it works. Connery is commanding and authoritative, even emotional as he deals with the haunts of Caldwell’s past and the trouble he has holding onto this relationship with Donna.

And speaking of Donna, poor Meg Ryan doesn’t have much to do but be the love interest. But she’s Meg Ryan so she’s perfectly cast, and with what she’s got to work with, convinces every step of the way. The problem is that the film can’t quite decide what it wants to be, a dangerous crime thriller or a tense interpersonal drama. As you’ve no doubt guessed, I like the crime thriller part better.

Honestly, even with my quibbles, there’s a lot I liked. I’m a sucker for these throwback movies and when it gets tense and Hyams puts his attention on the action, it really clicks and when Connery and Harmon are on the mystery, it’s great fun. Is it goofy? Of course. But that’s part of the appeal. This is textbook stuff, and when Harmon rides a conveyor face down shooting at the bad guys, you can’t help but giggle with cheesy delight.

While I’m recommending this, I’d say you should watch Connery in Philip Kaufman‘s Rising Sun soon after, that a better buddy cop movie than this. Still, for what it is, The Presidio is a solid entry in the genre. Despite the miscasting of Harmon, Connery and Ryan carry the real weight and keep this one to watch.