(These nominations were not solely on the merits of Rent-a-Cop, however; Reynolds and Minnelli were also cited for Switching Channels and Arthur 2: On the Rocks, respectively).

Just as the cops make the arrest a masked thief called Dancer intervenes and executes all of the officers.

Della manages to escape as Dancer flees and Church is left facing the blame of the disastrous bust and winds up getting fired from the force.

Della, a high-priced hooker, unbeknownst to Church and the other cops, happened to be in the hotel at the time and caught a good look at Dancer's face.

Afraid Dancer will come after her again and succeed in killing her, Della decides that she needs protection and she tracks down the lowly Church, who is now working as a security guard in a shopping mall.

Church's longtime colleague Roger, tracks him down and advises him to steer clear of the case as it destroyed his career.

[4]Rent-a-Cop was the feature film debut of director Jerry London, who had made his name through his work on television mini series such as Shogun.

"He is an intelligent, sharp and hard-working professional," said London about Reynolds, "and the chemistry between him and Minnelli is wonderful.

I think Rent-A-Cop is an audience picture, the kind of film where you have a good time for an hour and 40 minutes.

[9] Walter Goodman reviewing for The New York Times praised Minnelli's performance, but described the plot as sloppy and the directing as efficient but uninspired.