Bullet Points: No Code of Conduct
Charlie Sheen has been all over the news since he revealed he was HIV positive on the Today show last week. As you can imagine, the tabloids and gossip sites are having a field day with this news.
If you are looking for more salacious stories about Charlie Sheen’s sex life, you have come to the wrong place. But if you are looking for a review of No Code of Conduct starring Charlie Sheen, his father Martin Sheen and Bulletproof Action favorite Mark Dacascos, then you have come to the right place.
- Fallen Angel: Before I get into my review I wanted to share my first impressions based on the cover above. With the tagline “When Corruption Strikes The Police Force… Trust No One!” and the broken police badge superimposed over the picture of Mark Dacascos, I had to wonder if Mark’s character, Paul DeLucca, was going to end up being the villain in this one. SPOILER ALERT! That was not the case and the Dacascos we get in this one is more Only the Strong than he is China Strike Force.
- So Tell Me Why: Charlie Sheen or Charles Sheen, as he is known in No Code of Conduct, plays Jake Peterson, a vice cop who for reasons I’m not sure are completely explained, has been relegated to working the evidence room at the precinct. Charles’ real life dad, Martin Sheen, plays his father and the police captain, Bill Peterson. Jake is having troubles at home, his wife is fed up with Jake putting his job before her and their young daughter, Kaylin. Again, I’m not sure how working in the evidence room has Jake too busy to be at home. I could see if he was working cases and lost track of time in pursuit of evil doers but since that’s not the case, WHY isn’t Jake at home more often? With Jake working with evidence, his partner Paul DeLucca is now working with a female partner named Andrea.
- Every Rose Has its Thorn: Now that I’ve introduced our protagonists, it is time to look at our antagonists. Shi (Tina Nguyen) is the leader of a group of ne’er do wells involved in the drug business. The group includes the bad ass Wildog (Joe Lando), the token black guy Steve, and the nerdy guy who tests the purity of the drugs Cameron (played by Courtney Gains, who you may remember from Faster). Shi is as beautiful as a rose, but her “acting skills” are absolutely atrocious. This criminal group is paid by a wealthy businessman named Julian DiSanto. Now I think the movie was trying to make the fact that DiSanto is the main bad guy a twist, but from his first appearance on screen, the fact that he is more than meets the eye is telegraphed. DiSanto is played by Ron Masak. Masak is most known for his work as the sheriff of Cabot Cove on the long running series, Murder, She Wrote. Maybe the producers figured his squeaky clean image from that show would not allow anyone watching their film to believe he could be the bad guy… or maybe he was a bad guy all along and that’s why Cabot Cove was the per capita murder capital of the United States!
- I Want Action: The action picks up after Cameron picks up a hooker for the night, unfortunately for him that hooker is actually undercover cop Andrea Johnson. When Cameron discovers the wire, all hell breaks loose and soon there is a shoot out between the drug runners and the cops. Shi ends ups killing Andrea, a car explodes and the cops are now in hot pursuit of the bad guys and their white van from Mexico that has $50 million in heroine stashed inside. The action in the film was one of its more redeeming qualities with the chase scene and the explosion at the end of the film being the big action highlights.
- Nothin’ But A Good Time: No Code of Conduct was directed by Bret Michaels of hair band Poison fame and it was one of 9 films produced by Sheen/Michaels Entertainment in the late 1990’s. This was actually Bret’s second go around as a director, his first was a movie titled A Letter from Death Row. In that one, Bret Michaels is also the star of the film, playing convicted killer, Michael Raine. Given the charisma vacuum he was in his limited on screen time in No Code of Conduct, I’m glad I didn’t have to watch a movie where Bret had more screen time. One thing is certain, Charlie Sheen and Bret Michaels obviously had a good time when they worked together and I can imagine they had a lot of poon slaying tales to share with one another both on and off the set.
No Code of Conduct is a run of the mill action flick, it has a few good points but it has its share of bad points too. In the interest of full disclosure, No Code of Conduct is probably only a notch or two above some of the movies I deem as What Not To Watch. But the movie gets at least a few extra points in my book for having the wisdom to cast Mark Dacascos.
And speaking of extra points, here’s a few extra Bullet Points to wrap things up…
- Look What The Cat Dragged In: Some other familiar faces in No Code of Conduct include Charlie Sheen’s uncle, Joe Estevez who plays Pappy, a mechanic in the police motor pool. And who better to play an inept authority figure than the late Paul Gleason. Gleason, who you may remember from Die Hard , plays a DEA agent in No Code of Conduct.
- Valley of the Lost Souls: Early on in the film Jake Peterson has to talk one of his fellow officers out of killing himself. Once he does, he then takes said officer out for a drink. Nothing helps depressed people more than a depressant like alcohol.
- Something to Believe In: Jake doesn’t just give advice, he gets some too. At one point, he asks his friend and partner Paul DeLucca for some life advice. If only Sheen would have actually asked Mark Dacascos for some life advice he may have been able to avoid some of the pitfalls he has experienced over the years.
