Pamela Anderson’s Sexy, R-Rated Action Thriller Is An Unfairly Overlooked 90s Gem

By Robert Scucci
| Updated 1 hour ago

Whenever the name Pamela Anderson comes up, general audiences often think about the infamous Tommy Lee tapes or her career with Playboy. Of course, we have to mention Baywatch and the infinitely superior, self-aware action dramedy V.I.P. I find this shameful because Anderson, when fully in her element, knows how to hold her own in action comedies, which we saw most recently when she starred alongside Liam Neeson in the 2025 Naked Gun reboot. Back in 1994, Anderson stole the show in a little action thriller called Raw Justice, which is currently streaming for free on Tubi under the title Good Cop, Bad Cop.

One thing I’ve always admired about Pamela Anderson’s work in this wheelhouse is how effortlessly charismatic she is and how well she plays off her co-stars. She’s self-aware enough to know she’s being cast as the blonde bombshell, but she can throw zingers with the best of them, always with a wink and a nod, as if to say, “I belong here, and I’m going to own it.”

And that’s exactly what you get with Good Cop, Bad Cop. It’s billed as an action thriller, but to me, it plays like a straight-up comedy. The mystery itself is boilerplate, but let’s be real here. When there’s a murder mystery involving a jaded bounty hunter, his primary suspect who maintains his innocence, and a sex worker played by Anderson who just so happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, nobody’s watching for the plot. They’re watching because they want a familiar narrative framework that allows the cast to lean into the genre conventions we all love and chew through the scenery with as much charisma and charm as the audience can handle.

The Mayor’s Daughter Is Dead, Now What?

When Good Cop, Bad Cop first introduces us to Mace (David Keith), we get a crash course on everything we need to know about him. He’s a rough-and-tumble bounty hunter and former cop who apprehends criminals by any means necessary, even if it means borrowing clothes from a sex worker named Sarah (Pamela Anderson) so he can gain access to a motel room where his suspect is laying low. Mace butts heads with Detectives Atkins (Leo Rossi) and Stiles (Charles Napier) whenever they cross paths, especially after he gets hauled into the station dressed like a woman of the night, complete with a black wig, frilly hot-pink top, and black miniskirt.

The real conflict, though, comes in the form of Donna Stiles’ (April Bogenschutz) murder. Donna was Mayor David Stiles’ (Charles Napier) daughter and Mace’s former lover, so this case hits close to home when the mayor pays him a visit asking for help. Broken up by Donna’s death, Mace takes the case, and the mayor instructs him to work closely with Deputy Mayor Bob Jenkins, portrayed by Stacy Keach, to get the job done. But there’s one thing you need to know about Mace in regard to his emotional connection to the murder mystery: he doesn’t take a “woe is me” approach, and he’s not out for revenge. He just wants to get the job done and move on with his life.

The primary suspect in Donna’s murder is her most recent romantic fling, Mitch McCallum (Robert Hays). Mitch gets locked up immediately, but his bail is posted anonymously just as quickly. We soon find out he was released so he could be murdered as well, meaning whoever is actually behind the crime can get away scot-free because the primary suspect has been eliminated.

When Mace tracks down Mitch, who maintains his innocence, the two team up buddy-cop style to find the real mastermind behind Donna’s death. Sarah gets involved in the case by accident when she angrily tracks Mace down to get her clothes back, and before you know it, we have a dream team of de facto sleuths who communicate almost entirely through one-liners and sexual innuendos. There may even be a love triangle forming, but despite that, they remain focused on the case.

Chewing Scenery For Sport

The dynamic between every principal character in Good Cop, Bad Cop is nothing short of fantastic because everybody here knows the assignment. We have a simple murder mystery, which would be boring on its own, but everything is elevated by the fact that this movie knows exactly what it is. The vibe lands somewhere between a trashy pulp mystery and an airboat-riding action thriller, with plenty of practical explosions thrown in for good measure.

While Anderson absolutely kills it in this role thanks to her willingness to go all in on the comic relief, the high-speed car chase immediately comes to mind, David Keith’s magnetic portrayal of Mace cannot be overstated. He’s cynical to a fault, but he knows a good lead when he sees one. He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty, but he’s going to pound a few road sodas first to get into the proper headspace. He looks world-weary, but he also knows he has a job to do, hangovers be damned.

Add Stacy Keach’s ever-menacing presence as a man who always seems to know more than he’s letting on, rival bail bondsmen with ties to Mitch’s botched murder attempt, and a handful of colorful side characters to the mix, and you have a mystery thriller with zero fat on it but more than enough going on to keep you interested; there are enough context clues to keep you in the know without the movie beating you over the head with them. You can just sit back, enjoy the action, and watch these characters interact with one another because that’s the real selling point here.

Going into Good Cop, Bad Cop knowing it’s going to have the standard “good guy wins, bad guy loses” kind of arc, there’s nothing you need to do other than sit back and enjoy the show. That’s really all there is to it, and I cannot stress enough how fun this movie is if you watch it without any pretension.

As of this writing, you can stream Good Cop, Bad Cop for free on Tubi.