Chevy, implausibly, as Jew-hater

Chevy Chase as Mitch Carroll in a Mel-Gibson-like story, "In Vino Veritas," on "Law & Order" (Virginia Sherwood NBC Photo)

BY VERNE GAY | Newsday Staff Writer

November 3, 2006

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There must be better re-entry roles for someone who hasn't been a TV presence for nearly 30 years than the one Chevy Chase plays on tonight's "Law & Order." Mitch Carroll: Washed-up sitcom star, lives in New York and can't get work anymore. Squint and the out-of-focus image before your eyes isn't terribly far removed from that of Chase himself or his own long-stalled career.

There have been bit roles here and there (and a doomed 1993 late-night talk show), but the glory days of the '70s and '80s have long receded. Chase is just another guy trying to make an on-screen living - a very famous guy, to be sure - which lends an unexpected poignancy to the quote he supplied to the press earlier this week.

"It was a delight; my first dramatic role, and I was scared to death at first. Then, I found with the help of the great acting of the other participants that I was able to do it, and comfortably. I hope I get another chance to do more dramatic roles."

After this outing, that may not be so easy. Maybe it's too many repeats of "Fletch" or "Christmas Vacation." Maybe it's the endless afterlife of "Saturday Night Live." Fact is, Chevy is Chevy. But Mitch Carroll is a loud-mouthed, anti-Semite bigot who refuses an interrogation by Det. Nina Cassady (Milena Govich) because "you're a Jew. I shoulda known they'd stick me in a room with a Jew cop. I'm not talking to a Jew cop."

The words are hard to hear, even hard to write, but from the mouth of Chase, they sound implausible. In his early wilding days, he certainly had his famous run-ins - the comment to Tom Snyder about Cary Grant being a "homo" (he got sued for that one) or the near-fisticuffs with Bill Murray. But anti-Semitism? Impossible to imagine.

As "Law & Orders" go, this is not a particularly effective one. Carroll is stopped for a routine traffic violation, and the arresting cops smell alcohol. They pull him out of the car, and he's covered with blood. Drunk and a little disoriented, Mitch says it's just spilled wine. He unleashes his anti-Semitic tirade after he's brought in for questioning.

Suffice it to say, anti-Semitism is a real-world horror, but in the context of this episode, it's the prop for a thick, preachy lesson/episode. Tonight, "Law & Order" meets "Gentleman's Agreement." The match feels forced.

"L&O" has long and effectively mined the news for story subjects, and this episode - as has been widely reported - plays off Mel Gibson's booze-fueled rant in July. As such, the figleaf that "L&O" airs at the outset - "the following story is fictional and does not depict any person or event" - is hilariously disingenuous. Gibson certainly won't have a good night, particularly after he sees what Chase does to him.

Then again, maybe Gibson deserves a little raw justice, "Law & Order"-style.

LAW & ORDER. Chevy Chase stars as a drunken bigot who just might be a little like another famous guy who recently went on an anti-Semitic tear. The episode is called "In Vino Veritas." Tonight at 10 on NBC/4.

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