at one time ` buddy cop movie rule the box office . it seem that every summer flock of beverly hill cop wannabe descend on our nation theater . not any more . lately the gusher have dry to barely a trickle . the drought have ease a bit recently with the release of showtime and a movie that be a genuinely funny and consistently entertaining example of the genre . mitch preston be a dedicated cop . he not a dirty harry type by any mean . he just incredibly focused professional who completely intolerant of anything that get in the way of the performance of his duty like and say and a t. v. cameraman . mitch deal with the cameraman in a socially irresponsible way and so fall into the clutch of chase renzi and a producer look for a killer hook for her ` reality t. v. cop show . she think that mitch will give her the ` edgy boost it need to be a hit but feel he may be too unlikable to carry the whole show by himself . enter trey sellars and a patrolman cum actor who watch way too many police story re run . of course mitch and trey mix like oil and water and much merry mayhem ensues . we know that mitch and trey be bind to become best buddy by the end of the movie . that the way buddy cop movie be suppose to work . in fact and it have to be say that showtime rarely deviate from the time honor clichés a writ by lethal weapon and tango and cash . there a high tech mcguffin to get the ball rolling ( in this case an automatic rifle that fire round big enough to stop tank . ) there a slick foreign baddy with an accent of undetermined origin . there be chase and shootout and explosion . we all know this go in and we have a pretty fair idea how it all go to turn out . you know what . there nothing wrong with that . yes and we know the well worn base be go to be touch but the fun here be the trip and not the destination . showtime doesn not strain to be original . instead it energy be funnel into it character and humorous situation . a a result and showtime do a competent job with the action sequence but really shine in it comedy . robert de niro be dryly funny a mitch . in the past i have think de niro to be a cold and unexpressive actor give horribly to mug when call upon to do comedy . lately and though and he grow on me . he seem to be inject more humanity into his role . eddie murphy be hilarious a trey . the best way to describe his performance be that trey be what murphy would be if murphy weren not so talented and hadn not hit the big time . rene russo have a droll time play motor mouth show biz shark chase renzi . she stalk through the movie chase high nielson rating with awe inspire determination . in her zeal she re vamp mitch life to make it more camera friendly . she even call upon t. j. hooker himself and william shatner and to show mitch how be a more ` authentic cop . shatner be funny and play himself precisely a we expect him to be and loud and oblivious and slightly obnoxious . i have to admit i be really look forward to showtime and i wasn not disappoint . ten year ago this movie would have be a guaranteed hit . today it do moderate business at best . that a pity because showtime be a whole lot of fun .