The one crucial element that made almost every buddy cop movie in the 1980s so successful was casting a popular stand-up comedian in a police uniform. Whether it was Eddie Murphy in 48 HRS. or Billy Crystal in Running Scared, the funnymen of the genre knew how to fire bullets and laughs at the same time. Yet, not every comedian could translate their stage persona to the big screen, and Jay Leno learned that the hard way with Collision Course.
Predating the east-meets-west premise of Rush Hour by 11 years, the 1989 action comedy was the perfect example of the buddy cop movie gone wrong. Helmed by journeyman filmmaker Lewis Teague (Cujo, The Jewel of the Nile), Collision Course capitalized on Pat Morita’s popularity from The Karate Kid franchise as a Japanese cop matching wits alongside a future host of NBC’s The Tonight Show as a wisecracking Detroit detective. It was released straight to video in 1992, after its studio, DEG Entertainment Group, fell into bankruptcy shortly after production was completed. Between its cultural insensitivity and made-for-TV production values, Collision Course was Leno’s first and last attempt at a movie career.
What Is ‘Collision Course’ About?
Detroit detective Tony Costas (Leno) gets called to a scrapyard crime scene where police discover the bodies of Japanese auto engineer Oshima (Danny Kamekona) and the manager of the area. The latter victim was Costas’ ex-partner, who was shot by a rare rocket gun. But the death of Oshima alerts the Japanese police, and they assign Inspector Fujitsuka Natuso (Morita) to go to the US to retrieve the dead engineer’s prototype for a high-concept turbocharger.
After Costas arrests Natuso for breaking into Oshima’s hotel room, both the Detroit and Japanese police tell the two cops to back off the case entirely. What starts as Costas and Natuso distrusting one another, soon evolves into a partnership once they find out the turbocharger was about to be sold to an American automaker under the thumb of Detroit crime boss Madras (Chris Sarandon). Together, the two cops will have to go through the likes of Madras’ gun-crazed henchman Scully (Tom Noonan) and brutish Kosnic (Randall “Tex” Cobb) to find the turbocharger before the bad guys do.
Like another comedy about the US/Japan culture clash, Ron Howard’s Gung Ho, Collision Course highlights the tension between the two countries within the context of Detroit’s faltering auto industry and the technologically advanced Japanese one. The conflict is reflected in Leno and Morita’s dynamic, where the American cop takes pride in his blue-collar approach to police work while the Japanese cop plays by the rules with self-discipline. As deep as the subject matter could have been with a better script, Collision Course sticks to a buddy formula simply to drive the comedy, whereas Gung Ho took the comedic approach to the culture clash to bring truth about opposing backgrounds learning from each other. Aside from jokes about Japanese sayings from Morita and abridged American history lessons about Sears from Leno, neither character in Collision Course undergoes any real change through their respective arcs.
‘Collision Course’ Plays Like an Unsold TV Cop Show Pilot
The buddy movies of the ‘80s often played into the push-and-pull chemistry between a serious actor being the straight man and a comedian sparking the fun banter. One of Collision Course’s biggest problems is the fact that it features two experienced comedians, and neither one is portrayed straight. Before his global fame in The Karate Kid, Morita was an established stand-up comic who made guest appearances on Happy Days. As much as Morita tries to retain the quiet strength of Mr. Miyagi, his role as Natsuo is often played as the butt of stereotypical jokes about misunderstanding American slang or getting drunk with Leno to teach him how to speak Japanese. Unlike Jackie Chan kicking butt and having fun doing it in Rush Hour, Morita spends the majority of Collision Course running from Leno in the first half and evading combat in the second. He even pokes fun at his Oscar-nominated role in a bowling alley fight with Cobb by mocking kata moves before getting tossed aside.
Leno’s popularity grew at the time of Collision Course’s production by being a frequent guest host of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson before taking over the show in 1992. He tries to follow the same sloppy detective approach of Nick Nolte in 48 HRS. and James Belushi in Red Heat: Alcoholic, lives alone in a messy apartment, and constantly clashes with his bosses. Though Leno has some funny recurring bits where he uses his badge to get women’s phone numbers while on investigation, his quips often feel tone-deaf, and his emotional beats fall flat. Leno’s laid-back TV star persona simply does not translate to cinematic leading man.
Even if Leno and Morita could generate strong chemistry on-screen, Collision Course suffers from Teague making it look less cinematic than 48 HRS. and more like an unsold TV cop show pilot. Based on his resume in horror and action, Teague is no expert in directing comedies. Nothing about the movie feels inspired because of the script featuring one-dimensional villains played by Sarandon and Noonan, a throwaway sidekick cop role for the ever-reliable Ernie Hudson, and nothing but racially insensitive humor. The worst offender of them all is Al Waxman as Leno’s cop rival, who interrogates Morita by using Japanese food and car company names to mock his knowledge of the language.
As a whole, Collision Course is one outdated attitude of a motion picture that did little to make the case for Leno to make it in movies. He learned this lesson well because the cameo appearances he made in subsequent movies like Dave and The Flintstones allowed The Tonight Show host to play his best role ever: Himself.
