How many clichés can we fit into 82 minutes? Well, we've got the special, elite, off-the-books team that doesn't play by the department's rules, we've got a slightly-reckless-but-excellent-cop Melville (Matt Nable) and his more-resigned, understanding, long-time partner Donovan (Omari Hardwick), the tough-as-nails, no-nonsense woman officer Jayne (Colleen Porch), and, oh man, even the tortured cop with a terrible incident on his record who literally sees the ghost of his past mistakes while he contemplates suicide. That's our hero, Billy Beckett (Peter Stebbings), who gets pulled back from the brink by Lieutenant Joseph Armstrong (Keith David) and invited to join S.I.S. But wait, I haven't described the bad guys either, who top the mountain of reused parts with a criminal named Vic (Domenick Lombardozzi) who partners with his sycophantic, unstable brother Spider (GQ) and his girlfriend Maya (Martha Millan), but refuses to listen when tensions grow between Spider and Maya and when Maya tries to convince him not to do one last job. There's also a scene where a police chief threatens to shut down S.I.S., just for the hell of it.

To anyone writing a cop thriller/drama/action feature, for TV or the movies, take note: character first, plot second. We've seen cop plots in thousands of shows and movies, and even though this is a premiere movie, the idea is to lead into a television show. It's highly unlikely that a plot can be concocted so clever and labyrinthe that it will sustain a TV series through an entire first season, and even if it is, it has to be topped with each successive season, which presents an even bigger challenge. However, if the show has interesting, engaging characters, then the audience will play along. "S.I.S." does not have interesting, engaging characters. I hate when soap operas employ character traits over actual character, but "S.I.S." doesn't even employ character traits. The characters literally explain how they feel without embodying any of it.

They aren't helped in the acting department either. Keith David is always a pleasure, and he elevates a few scenes just through his familiar presence and distinctive voice, and Peter Stebbings has some charisma here and there, when he's not being forced to stare his character's poorly-written demons in the eye. Everyone else, unfortunately, either barely registers or registers badly. Nable goes around with a single, sad-sack look in his eye (the same one he's got on the DVD cover) and a bad attitude about everything; in literally one scene in the entire movie he gets a little fired up working with Stebbings, but the performance is basically terrible. Thankfully, this movie fails to expound much on what surely would have developed into Jayne's struggles to balance a home life with a kid and the tough streets and long nights of SIS, but that leaves Porch with nothing to do but look stern. The same goes for Hardwick, although they try to give him a subplot about his mother that would have been a nicer touch if the rest of the picture didn't suck. Lastly, many people will recognize Lombardozzi from "The Wire", where he plays Herc. Unfortunately the movie would seem to suggest that anything likable about the actor comes from the writing of that show rather than his acting talents (not that "SIS" is a good way to judge anyone's talent).

It's not surprising that "S.I.S." didn't make it to series. It's a poorly-written, poorly-acted, uninteresting slice of pure mediocrity, without any attempts at flair or interest, and I doubt increasing the story to run several times longer than this TV-movie/pilot does would have improved it any.

The DVD
"S.I.S." comes in a standard keep case with unusually bright and sunny artwork that tries to hype up the L.A. image more than any of the 82 minutes on the disc inside, with Nable delivering his trademark face. Pictures of a gun, bullets, and yellow crime-scene tape imaginatively decorate the back (if only the S.I.S. weren't secret, they could throw a badge on there too), and the disc has yet another pic of Nable doing his thing. The menus repeat the front cover art and are more than easy to navigate.

The Video
Wow, what happened here? Grease on the lens? Someone constantly smoking? Whatever it is, it makes "S.I.S." look terrible on DVD. This 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation basks in a constant haze from beginning to end, obscuring details, muting colors, and turning night scenes into a contrast-free blob. Could this really be what director John Herzfeld intended? If I hadn't just watched a different movie, I might have thought there was something wrong with my TV. Just because you want your film to have an atmospheric, smoky look doesn't mean you have to sacrifice depth, detail, and pop. Oh, there's a touch of interlacing thrown in for good measure.

The Audio
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is better, filling the soundscape with a sense of atmosphere; most of the movie takes place outdoors, and you often feel effectively placed in that environment. That said, there's not really anything going on that calls for the effect, it's just there for no reason. Maybe if the film's occasional shootout actually had some dynamic action going on, the effort might have served a purpose, but it's all in vain. English and French subtitles are provided.

The Extras
A spot for Sony Blu-Ray plays before the menu, and trailers for "Breaking Bad", The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice, The Lazarus Project, "Damages": Season 1, "The Shield": Seasons 1-6 and "Rescue Me": Seasons 1-4" round out the additional content on the disc. Woo-hoo...

Conclusion
Skip it. There are thousands of better cop stories, hundreds better cop shows, and, hell, probably even better failed cop pilots than this mishmash of the old and uninteresting. If it wasn't worth watching on TV for free...