Steve is a renowned detective who has always had it cool with the ladies, bad with the punches but wont joke with his dog. Steve is called to action when some local thugs tampered with his pet.
"Once Upon a Time in Venice" doesn't come through with any enlivening clarity, and while Willis isn't revelatory here, at least he's awake. Sort of. That's almost worth a recommendation alone.
Looked at from a certain angle, Once Upon a Time in Venice plays as a document of how much humiliation Bruce Willis is willing to undergo for a paycheck.
It's as much a snapshot of a screwball neighborhood as it is a loose-ended shaggy dog story, with a weird, buoyant spirit that lifts it up over its somewhat sloppy storytelling.
Bruce Willis' latest effort to dislodge his film career from a stubborn rut goes unrewarded with "Once Upon a Time in Venice," a wincingly unfunny comedy caper set along L.A.'s funky beach community.
This charming, scruffy dog story pits a laid-back Los Angeles P.I. against a motley crew of lowlifes, wastrels and crooks...think Keanu with a very cute pup.