Godwaful dumb tripe w/horrid Gould performance deserved its bad reviews
This movie was panned when it came out and watching it 38 years later, I can see those reviews were deserved. This is godwaful stupid tripe with a truly hideous performance by Elliott Gould. I managed to get through 36 minutes and feel I deserve a medal.
At the time this came out, it was panned for its depiction of homosexuals and its ridiculous shootout in an all-night market. The thing is, THESE TWO COPS ARE MORONS and this is not a comedy. It tries to channel the DIRTY HARRY vibe, but what people don't realize is that DIRTY HARRY is a masterpiece of camp.
No critic could believe that the idiots, who at their ages have at least 10 years on the force, do not know the rules cops play by. Asking for a warrant at 1 AM without probable cause is not going to cut it, and breaking into an apartment without said warrant is illegal and anything seized would be inadmissible evidence, so why would they do it? The resulting shootout in which at least one innocent person is shot would have them drummed off the force and the City of L.A. up to its a$$ in lawsuits. What cops would behave this way?
Robert Blake, who is fine, is doing his unlit cigarette shtick that he used on talk shows during the 1970s, so the ever "cute" bad actor Gould tries to one up him by constantly chewing gum. When, during the shootout, he takes out a stick of gum.... It was too much.
This movie is a piece of you-know-what. It is NOT anything approaching classic '70s policiers like THE FRENCH CONNECTION. A far better movie about misfit cops doing things the wrong way was FREEBIE & THE BEAN, a comedy that covers such territory much better.
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"Why do people always laugh in the wrong places?"
--Perry Smith