THEIR WORD IS LAW THE MAKERS OF 'HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE' AND OTHER BUDDY COP FILMS SHARE THE FORMULA FOR SUCCESS.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer

Harrison Ford had never made a buddy cop movie in his long career, but he certainly understood how the genre works. That's why Ford - a perfectionist known to rework screenplays to within an inch of their lives and then still pass on the project (Steven Soderbergh's ``Traffic'' is his most famous bailout) - could sign on for ``Hollywood Homicide'' while the script was still being written and not lose a night's sleep.

``I liked the characters,'' Ford says. ``The plot was secondary; you could almost make it up as you go along. It's no secret the cops are going to solve the murder they're investigating.''

What you don't know, Ford adds, is whether his detective, who moonlights as a real estate agent, is going to sell his money pit of a house in Mount Olympus, the gaudy enclave in the hills above Hollywood.

``That's where the suspense kicks in,'' Ford says in his usual wry manner. ``That's where our cop movie veers from the norm.''

Buddy cop movies have been a Hollywood mainstay since the 1980s when Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy fought in ``48 Hrs.'' (We'll call it a buddy cop movie since Murphy's con man impersonates a police officer) and Mel Gibson and Danny Glover began their lucrative ``Lethal Weapon'' series. The films' formula is pretty basic: Two cops meet, initially clash and then grudgingly form a mutual admiration society as they're beating up the bad guys.

``Buddy cop movies are really just romantic comedies, only with two guys and a lot of stuff blowing up,'' says ``Hollywood Homicide'' director Ron Shelton.

Shelton's movie pairs the 60-year-old Ford with Josh Hartnett, 24, in a story of two mismatched Hollywood detectives trying to sandwich the murder investigation of a slain rap group into their busy side careers. Ford's cop is saddled with a dump of a house; Hartnett's is a bad actor who teaches yoga and dreams of becoming the next Brando. Say this for the film: It couldn't happen anywhere else in the U.S.A.

``Hollywood Homicide'' isn't the only buddy cop comedy coming soon to theaters. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence will reunite after an eight-year layoff for ``Bad Boys II,'' due in July. On the horizon: Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are resurrecting the '70s television series ``Starsky and Hutch'' (with Snoop Dogg as street hustler Huggy Bear!), ensuring that the creaky cop genre will have some life next year, beyond the glut of late-night, straight-to-cable fare.

And, undoubtedly, there will be another ``Rush Hour'' movie, though we'd like to think that the makers of the proposed ``Blue Streak 2'' will go back and watch ``Another Stakeout'' and call the whole thing off.

What separates Riggs and Murtaugh from Tango and Cash? Five rules for the buddy cop genre:

Make it an odd couple

All great buddy movies are about opposites. Think of Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in ``Some Like It Hot'' or Lemmon and Walter Matthau in ``The Odd Couple.'' The list goes on: Buzz and Woody in the ``Toy Story'' movies, Thelma and Louise, Harold and Maude, Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy in ``Driving Miss Daisy.''

The same maxim applies to buddy cop movies. In ``Lethal Weapon,'' Riggs was a crazy rule-breaker; Murtaugh the company man counting down the days until his retirement. Will Smith (streetwise) and Tommy Lee Jones (deadpan) in ``Men in Black.'' Eddie Murphy (glib) and Nick Nolte (gruff) in ``48 Hrs.''

``Basically, what you have is two male dogs sniffing each other's behinds,'' Shelton says. ``And for that to really work, you need to build in some differences - differences in generations or backgrounds or personality. Make the characters too much the same and you've got trouble.''

Actually, you've got ``City Heat,'' a 1984 Blake Edwards bomb that paired Clint Eastwood (then in a temporary slump) and Burt Reynolds (then in career free fall).

Emphasize character over plot

``People don't go to the 'Lethal Weapon' movies for the stories,'' says Richard Donner, who directed all four films in the series. ``They go because they love those two guys and want to spend time with them.''

Adds Shelton: ``What separates any movie are memorable characters. You look at that first 'Lethal Weapon' movie and you could have made a real dark film with those characters. You had the young partner whose wife was murdered so he has this death wish, and the older guy who couldn't quite retire. That's the stuff of tragedy. I think all good comedies have a dark comedy shadow self.''

Keep the laughs coming

With the exception of David Fincher's ``Seven,'' most police partner movies need a solid mixture of mirth and mayhem. Walter Hill's gritty ``48 Hrs.'' did it the best, combining a hard-edged story, lightning-fast pace and crackling chemistry between leads Murphy and Nolte. The scene where Murphy, badge in hand, enters a redneck bar and cracks down on the clientele almost brings a tear to the eye, recalling a time when Murphy's calling card was a quick wit instead of a flatulence joke.

If the movie isn't funny - remember Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd painfully mugging their way through the misguided ``Dragnet'' remake? - then all the car chases and explosions in the world aren't going to help. It's the difference between ``Rush Hour'' and ``Rush Hour 2.'' When you're not laughing, the genre's generic elements become all too painfully obvious.

Put your own spin on it

When it came time to make ``The Enforcer,'' the third picture in the ``Dirty Harry'' series, Clint Eastwood wanted to shake things up and give Harry a female partner. Eastwood chose Tyne Daly, ignoring his producers' pleas to cast a younger, sexier co-star. The result was one of the more interesting relationships in any of Eastwood's police dramas.

``You have to do something to the genre's conventions, otherwise your audience is going to be bored,'' Eastwood said in an interview last year. ``At the time, movies had never really shown a female police officer who was just as smart and just as capable as her male partner. So I think we broke a little ground with that one and that's why people remember it.''

With ``Hollywood Homicide,'' Shelton believes he has staked out new territory simply by setting the movie in Los Angeles and embracing the area's daily absurdities.

``You're not going to find any other place where a detective can work on a homicide case one hour and then the next hour be on the phone trying to sell Martin Landau's house to Master P,'' Shelton says. ``Anything can happen in L.A.: It's fertile ground for character-based comedy.''

Blow something up real good

You need characters, comedy and originality. But these are action movies, too, and the audience has certain expectations.

``You've got to flip a police car in one of these things,'' Shelton quips. ``Otherwise people will feel cheated.'' He pauses, thinking about it. ``And, as a director, I'd have felt cheated, too. You don't get too many opportunities to flip police cars in real life.''

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

The rap sheet on buddy cops

Best

48 Hrs. (1981) We know, we know. Eddie Murphy was a convict, not a cop. But he brandished a badge in that redneck bar and helped Nick Nolte crack the case. That makes it a buddy cop movie - maybe the best.

My New Partner (1984) French filmmaker Claude Zidi's classic about a corrupt Parisian inspector (Philippe Noiret) and his new straight-arrow partner (Thierry Lhermitte). ``Training Day,'' only with laughs and without the overacting. By the way, in true American fashion, there was a sequel, ``My New Partner II,'' in 1990.

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) In this outing, the Mel Gibson-Danny Glover formula was perfected but not yet tired.

Seven (1995) OK, so Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman weren't exactly buddies. And, nope, it's not exactly a laughfest. But cop movies don't come any smarter or darker.

Men in Black(1997) Any movie that makes Tommy Lee Jones funny - Will Smith already was - deserves some kind of medal.

Worst

Turner & Hooch (1989) We don't really want to see Tom Hanks opposite a dog ...

Dragnet (1987) ... or Dan Aykroyd, for that matter.

Tango and Cash (1989) Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell engage in a heated contest to see who's the best cop and the worst actor. (It's Stallone by a nose.)

Exit to Eden (1994) Dan Aykroyd and Rosie O'Donnell in leather bondage costumes. What the MPAA refers to as ``horrific images unsuitable for any and all ages.''

Metro (1997) Eddie Murphy is teamed with Michael Rapaport. It was the last movie Murphy ever promoted. We'd hide, too.

In ``Hollywood Homicide,'' Harrison Ford plays a detective who is also trying to sell his money pit of a house on Mount Olympus. Ford says the film's offbeat characters made the project appealing.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Cop buddy movies - like `Hollywood Homicide,' with Josh Hartnett and Harrison Ford - load up on laughs and bullets

(2) In ``Hollywood Homicide,'' Harrison Ford plays a detective who is aso trying to sell his money pit of a house in Mount Olympus. Ford says the film's offbeat characters made the project appealing.

(3) Josh Hartnett plays Harrison Ford's partner in ``Hollywood Homicide.'' The chemistry between the two stars will be one factor determining the movie's success, according to directors of the buddy cop genre.

(4 -- 5) Just the facts: ``Dragnet,'' starring Dan Aykroyd, above left, and Tom Hanks, elicited groans, while ``48 Hrs.,'' with Eddie Murphy, below left, and Nick Nolte, has stood the test of time.

Box:

The rap sheet on buddy cops (see text)