Ex-Chicago police, Area Six (now Area Three) burglary dick, Dennis Farina has left TV’s LAW & ORDER after two seasons. Farina’s long time publicist, Lori De Waal in Los Angeles, recently made the announcement.Apparently Farina who is currently involved in two feature films now in production, YOU KILL ME and PURPLE VIOLETS, wants to develop films for his own production company. For some reason Farina’s talent shines in films much better than those TV shows.
The films Farina made I enjoyed most were GET SHORTY, MANHUNTER, MIDNIGHT RUN, THAT OLD FEELING and his cameo in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.
I can see Farina in yet another role, that of an old Area Six homicide dick, Frank Heatley in that project I’ve been pushing for three years COME FRIDAY. Heatley was a somewhat frustrated older cop who was committed to find a way to keep serial rapist, Robert Ellis off the street. The Heatley character narrates the film and requently stumbles while hunting for Ellis.
Frank Heatley was repeatedly outshined in this investigation by the youngest ever homicide detective who was young enough to be his son. Of course, the real hero was an intended victim of Ellis, recruit policewoman, Ann Leybourne.
Farina was no stranger to Ann Leybourne since they knew each other on the job and Farina had worked with both of Ann’s husbands. Among those heartbroken friends who traveled to Ann’s premature funeral in Michigan was Dennis Farina.
I'd love to see Farina play Heatley! Heatley died at least 15 years ago after a good career.
ReplyDeleteI see a little Buddy Farro in Heatley too.
Paul Rople was the dick who tagged that rapist only to see the courts let him go.
Rock on Dennis!
Get Jimmie O'Donnell ( a former star area six robbery dick )to direct his old friend and you would have a hell of a movie!
ReplyDeleteBring back "CRIME STORY”, that was great as long as it stayed in Chicago. Either way, make it in Chicago, not Toronto.
ReplyDeleteThat goof of a mayor has practically killed the movie industry in Chicago. He was dumbfounded, as he often is, when the movie, "Chicago" opened and he found out it was made in Canada.
In the eighties and nineties, Chicago people, actors, electricians, stage hands, costumers, production assistants and so on, were able to make a living working on movies and TV shows. Now, when a production comes to Chicago, it is usually just the second unit to film some exteriors for a week or two. In those days Chicago based companies wore involved, now most of them went out of business or moved to Toronto. Now when you look at a movie location location in Chicago and see all the trucks, they have California or Arizona license plates.
It wasn't Richie Daley's hired trucks that were making those movies, so he slapped a six and one/half percent tax on rental equipment.