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Oh, yeah. I said I had “criticisms”, meaning more than one.

This one feels unfair, but I’m going to stick by it because it’s valid. Riggs’ psychology figures into this story big time, and it’s interesting how thoroughly the police department fails to take his obvious mental illness seriously. Do you remember the scene with Riggs and the pistol, and how unequivocally poignant I said it was? Lethal Weapon really does a great job of establishing - on a dramatic level - that Riggs has a serious and undeniable mental health issue. And while the film does not play it for laughs (you know, the way the sequels do), it kind of bothered me the way his colleagues treat it like a case of flatulence that’s bad enough to gossip about, but not enough to risk confrontation.

Maybe this was an intentional decision, meant to provide added contrast to Murtaugh’s generosity and thereby enhance the relationship. But anytime a cop loses a spouse, you’d think that would be a red flag. An already difficult job can be made made more so by losing the person who, for many, is the rock in their lives. This is clearly true of Riggs, and for all the effort Lethal Weapon puts into highlighting this, it’s all the more depressing the way the majority of his co workers turn their backs on him. At times, this callousness contributes to a slight unevenness in tone. In fact, the department psychologist even points out to Riggs’ boss how someone in this condition might have an especially hard time with the holidays, and the man’s response is:

“Well if he offs himself, we’ll know you were right.”

Did I say this universe resembles ours? I guess it does, except that God is dead, and his love has clearly died with him.

But hey, come on. These are small complaints in light of the fact that Lethal Weapon holds up well enough to still be among the highlights of the Buddy Cop Flick genre. It’s the relationship between the main characters, and how layered it is, that truly drives the film. Richard Donner, the man who made Christopher Reeve a household name, was an ideal pairing with Black’s distinctive writing. Donner’s laid back, humane approach lends itself well to letting good scripts breathe, and good actors act. But I’ve taken enough of your time. We’ve both got 44 Hassel-packed episodes of Baywatch Nights to take in. So let me just leave you with this final thought:

Lethal Weapon isn’t just good, it’s good enough that over time I have quadruple dipped it on VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray AND digital. That might not make for good jacket copy, but you can consider it a ringing endorsement.

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