Off Beat (1986)

Name: Off Beat
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1986-04-10
Duration: 92 min
Rating: 4.7
Cast: Judge Reinhold, Meg Tilly, Cleavant Derricks, Joe Mantegna, John Turturro

Off Beat (1986), directed by Michael Dinner, starring Judge Reinhold and Meg Tilly.

04/10/1986 BR Comedy 1h 32m

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Quiz about this movie

The Real Life Adventures Of A Make-Believe Cop.

Synopsis

Joe Gower's job is skating through library shelves, fetching books. A police officer/friend of his is chosen to participate in a charity dance performance. Gower agrees to take his place in the show by posing as a police officer. He falls for a female officer in the show and gets into various scrapes with fellow cops and also crooks. And he dances.

Carlo Di PalmaCinematography
Michael DinnerDirector
Angelo CorraoEditing
Dede AllenEditing

About the film

Off Beat is a 1986 American comedy film about Joe Gower, a young librarian who impersonates a police officer. The film was directed by Michael Dinner, and stars Judge Reinhold, Meg Tilly, Cleavant Derricks and Harvey Keitel.

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Plot

Joe Gower is a likable librarian who glides around his job on roller skates. He has a strict boss, Neil Pepper, and a good friend who's a cop, Abe Washington. A mistake Joe makes inadvertently messes up Washington's undercover work. Joe now owes him a favor, but is unprepared for what Washington wants. A police charity event needs officers to dress in drag, but because Washington wants no part of that, he asks Joe to take his place.

A reluctant Joe decides to go through with the audition, expecting to be so bad that he won't be cast in the show. When he goes there and meets an attractive policewoman, Rachel Wareham, it changes everything. Joe not only does the show, he continues to keep from Rachel the fact that he's not a real cop.

As luck would have it, Joe finds himself in the midst of actual crimes. He encounters criminals, like bank robber Mickey, and is caught in a crossfire as to which would be worse, being exposed as someone impersonating a police officer or being shot by a crook.

Cast

Judge Reinhold as Joe Gower

Meg Tilly as Rachel Wareham

John Turturro as Neil Pepper

Cleavant Derricks as Abe Washington

Jacques d'Amboise as August

Harvey Keitel as Mickey

Joe Mantegna as Pete Peterson

Amy Wright as Mary Ellen Gruenwald

Anthony Zerbe as Mr. Wareham

Julie Bovasso as Mrs. Wareham

Victor Argo as Leon

Penn Jillette as Norman

Mel Winkler as Earl

Irving Metzman as Deluca

Mike Starr as James Bonnell

Shawn Elliott as Hector

Stanley Simmonds as Pud

Nancy Giles as Celestine

Paul Butler as Jordan

John Kapelos as Lou Wareham

William Sadler as Dickson

Chris Noth as Ely Wareham Jr.

Austin Pendleton as Gun Shop Salesman

James Tolkan as Harry

Fred Gwynne as Police Commissioner

Release

The film was theatrically released on April 11, 1986.

Critical response

In his review of April 11, 1986, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave Off Beat three-and-a-half stars out of a possible four, describing it as one of the year's best comedies. Judge Reinhold later said the film was "a little love story they tried to sell as a ... comedy. It wasn't marketed right. It wasn't a Police Academy clone movie, (but) people got the impression that it was. It was a pretty tame movie, by those standards, but I was proud of it."

References

External links

Off Beat at IMDb

Off Beat at Box Office Mojo

Off Beat at Rotten Tomatoes

Text from Off Beat (1986 film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off_Beat_(1986_film)

Trivia

It cost US$ 10 million and grossed US$ 4.8 million in theaters — 0.5 times its budget.
It premiered on April 10, 1986, a Thursday.
It runs 1h32 — a typical feature length.
This film's quiz has 14 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosTouchstone Pictures
CountriesUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
BudgetUS$ 10,000,000
Box officeUS$ 4,842,778
StatusReleased

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Filming locations

New York City

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Crew

Carlo Di Palma Cinematography
Michael Dinner Director
Angelo Corrao Editing
Dede Allen Editing
Harry J. Ufland Producer
James Horner Original music
Dezsö Magyar Story
Mark Medoff Screenplay

Questions about this film

What is Off Beat about?

Off Beat: Joe Gower's job is skating through library shelves, fetching books. A police officer/friend of his is chosen to participate in a charity dance performance. Gower agrees to take his place in the show by posing as a police officer. He falls for a female officer in the show and gets into various scrapes with fellow cops …

Who directed Off Beat?

Off Beat was directed by Michael Dinner in 1986.

Who stars in Off Beat?

The cast of Off Beat includes Judge Reinhold, Meg Tilly, Cleavant Derricks, Joe Mantegna and John Turturro.

How long is Off Beat?

Off Beat runs for 92 minutes, or 1h32.

How much did Off Beat cost and how much did it make?

Off Beat had a budget of US$ 10,000,000 and took US$ 4,842,778 at the box office.