The Enforcer

The third installment in "Dirty Harry Month" is quite a game changer here folks, which is none other than the 1976 underrated classic, "The Enforcer." 

Another day, another dead partner. By now, Harry Callahan has learned that any partner he is assigned he shouldn't even think of becoming friends with because they will end up being murdered in the most painful ways. Callahan is not a man who is worried with self-pity and guilt as he spends a lot of the movie plotting on how to stop an environmental terrorist group than mourning over his latest partner (John Mitchum) getting stabbed when he was arresting one of the terrorists (DeVeren Bookwalter). The villains in this movie aren't as threatening as Scorpio or the vigilante cops in the first two films, and they just come across as mostly forgettable. What is fascinating is seeing Callahan trying to find out who is in charge of the secret base of these terrorists. When they kidnap the mayor of the city (John Crawford) and hold him for a price, Callahan says that he needs to up his game. 

Continuing with this pattern, Callahan is not given a male partner this time around and is instead assigned a female partner. Transferred to personnel, he agrees to interview the new team of rookies, and ends up being interested in Kate Moore, played by Tyne Daly. Daly is the real scene stealer in here, who spends most of the movie trying to keep up with Callahan and putting her life on the line to crack the terrorist group despite Callahan trying his best to keep a distance from her. Kate Moore is a very complex and interesting partner to Callahan's methods and she plays the officer effortlessly. Her deeds are what's the most interesting parts of the film, and she does well in handling Callahan's silly methods when handling criminals. Mostly Callahan comes off as a satire of the character from the first two films. His first time on the case has him dealing with a fake heart attack person in a restaurant and completely destroying a grocery store so he can catch a couple of thieves. Felix Vasquez stated in his review, "Why he isn’t in jail or in a mental ward is beyond me, at this point."

Vasquez goes on to say, "But Harry gets the job done and by the luck of knowing everyone on the force and raking in his share of fans, he lives to see another day of duty on the job. “The Enforcer” focuses on Harry implementing his classic interrogation methods and fist pounding skills to get answers from local thugs to locate a prostitute who may know where the ring leader of the terrorist group is hiding." As the film goes on, Harry ends up respecting Kate as they get close during the case, and he learns that the new era of police aren't all that soft as he thought they would be. Daly plays Kate very sensitively and it's engaging to watch and the way she shows heroism is just intense and worth seeing alone. Even though "The Enforcer" is not the finale in the "Dirty Harry" franchise, it's still a worth watchable sequel in the series.  Vasquez ended his review by saying, "While Harry gradually transforms in to a caricature, “The Enforcer” is a strong if flawed entry in the film series with the added benefit of a memorable and dazzling supporting performance by Tyne Daly and some raucous shoot outs." 

Like I stated already, this is an underrated entry in the "Dirty Harry" franchise and definitely is not one to be missed out on. If you saw the last two movies and liked them, you should continue watching them and give this one a chance. If you end up liking this one the least, that's fine, but I didn't. I thought every single entry was just as good, but that's just my opinion. This one gets a recommendation. 

Tune in next week when I talk about another amazing entry in "Dirty Harry Month."