Post by Eddie Love on Nov 1, 2010 21:45:46 GMT -5
Elliot Gould and Robert Blake are vice cops hitting the streets of L.A. in the classic 70s guilty pleasure BUSTING.
The picture’s helmed by Peter Hyams a director (and writer, and cinematographer) with a wildly interesting resume, and here he breaks out some of the moves that would become tricks of his trade; barbed cynicism, paranoia, and gritty, naturalistic action.
Gould and Blake are partners in the vice squad, taking down hot call girls and rousting public toilets for homosexuals. A sergeant with a cigar stuck in his mouth breaking their balls for not going by the book? Yeah, they got one of those, too. But when all the perps seem to lawyer up and walk, the guys figure out that a greasy big shot named Rizzo has the political muscle to protect his sleazy rackets. When they catch wind of Rizzo’s drug trade, our heroes decide to go it alone and take him down. (Which they were kind of already doing anyway…)
The film has a very weird feel to it. While our two shaggy leads seem cut from the same cloth as the counter-culture, they’re really enforcers for The Man, busting people for victim-less crimes and hassling gays. (Are there any 70s cops movies that don’t have mean-spirited digs at sexual minorities? I wasn't sure if here there was a rather humane portrait of some cross-dressers brought before a judge – busted at the behest of our heroes -- or if we were meant to laugh at them.)
However you may feel about the rancid flavor of the police work that goes on, at about the midway point settle back for a chase scene that is a virtuoso filmmaking turn. It. Will. Rock. Your. World.
The boys are (illegally) bracing a drug-peddler’s pad when they break in on a deal going down. They take off after the hoods on foot and we watch as Blake and Gould haul ass for blocks down the streets of L.A. They catch up with the crooks at an urban farmer’s market teeming with civilians. Cop and criminal stalk each other in this long powerhouse sequence that is simply sensational. Like much of Hyams’ work throughout the movie, we get long, tracking takes that never lose the verite sense of naturalism of the filmmaking. Indeed, this scene has hundreds of extras, yet they all seem completely authentic. If this set piece were in a Brian DePalma or William Friedkin movie, it would be hailed as a classic. It’s thrilling.
The rest of this film isn’t nearly as good, but it’s always enjoyable even if it does unconvincingly parrot some of the right-wing themes of DITY HARRY. There’s a strange, self-righteous bit where Gould storms out of a courtroom and struts down a hallway reciting the Pledge of Allegiance…and then promptly decks a couple of black pimps straight out of central casting. Plus, the film ends on a bitingly cynical note that is likely to make you groan. (Though this little sting is neatly delivered.)
At limes, Gould’s hip, off-hand style may put you in mind of his epic turn as Phillip Marlowe, but he does seem to realize the stakes here aren’t as high. And while I wouldn’t really call this a “buddy” movie, he and Blake do have real chemistry, including in a scene in a gay bar where they pose as a couple. Throughout, their bantering seems improvised. Elsewhere, Blake cannily holds back, and as such gives a tighter performance. And though Gould is the ostensible lead, it’s really the Blake character who cracks the case and does most of the actual detective work.
This movie may be a little gamy in some of its confused authoritarian cynicism. But as a fast-moving, 70s cop picture, oh, it delivers.
