Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) Review:

Taking on a gig just to outdo a competitor isn't usually the wisest idea. When you make haste, you lay waste. Unfortunately for Sylvester Stallone, he learned the hard way, when he and Arnold Schwarzenegger were neck and neck. Both stars were at the top of their game when it came to action films, and both were highly sought out. Especially after James Cameron's blockbuster hit Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Stallone was more than likely looking for a way to one up Schwarzenegger. His rival thought otherwise and began a rumor that he would be signing on to the project that would become this movie. As for Stallone, he took the bait and fully regrets the decision.

Eselle Getty & Sylvester Stallone

Written by three people Blake Snyder, William Osborne and William Davies, the story is about Joe Bomowski (Sylvester Stallone), a good cop trying to keep things together. Not only with his career but his love life involving his lieutenant Gwen Harper (JoBeth Williams). However, when Joe learns his mother Tutti (Estelle Getty) is coming to visit, things get tougher for him, because his mother embarrasses him every step of the way. Whether it be on the job or in front of his snobby colleague Ross (J. Kenneth Campbell), Joe can't cut a break. With two writers who would later pen The Scorpion King (2002), Flushed Away (2006) and How to Train Your Dragon (2010), it's amazing they made it past this.

This is not even an okay comedy at all, but it also isn't awful either. It's just bad. With director Roger Spottiswoode at the helm, viewers would think there must be some redeemable qualities. This is yet to be completely seen though when it comes to how the cast performs. Sylvester Stallone as Joe Bomowski is not much of a compelling character. He's constantly grinding his teeth and griping about everything. Understandably so since Estelle Getty as Joe's mom is completely oblivious as to what his son needs, which is personal space. There are things she spews out to the public that just shouldn't be repeated. How anyone thought this was cute doesn't make any sense.

For comedy, there's only a few chuckles from time to time, but much of it is cringe worthy and silly dialog. The fact that the other characters think Joe is too uptight and his mother is really sweet is truly unbelievable. There's also appearances from Roger Rees, Martin Ferrero and Richard Schiff. This doesn't add much to the experience though seeing that they all share the mediocre load of the film. One redeemable aspect are the action sequences since they are fairly quick and entertaining. Further down the run time an interesting set piece takes place that some viewers may not ever get to see done practically. By today's standards it would all be done via CGI.

"So,.....I was supposed to star with Arnold"

Visually, the film doesn't have much style. It is as bland as the material presented on screen. The cinematography handled by Frank Tidy was competently shot, it just didn't do anything for the viewing experience. While he has worked on other films like Hot Pursuit (1987), Code of Silence (1985) and The Mean Season (1985), this particular work by him is just standard. The film score was composed by Alan Silvestri who does his best to make sure he's known throughout the film. Here he creates a comical theme for the scenario and it's quite different from that of his more contemporary works. His action cues also contain a lot of percussion, again not heard much in his later career. Well done.

The problem with this comedy is that it's just not funny and it has really silly material. The cast try to make this work, but it falls flat with uninspired camerawork, and ludicrous circumstances. The only parts that are worth noting is the music and a couple different action sequences. It's good just to see how low Stallone's career was for him at the time.

Points Earned -->4:10