Hickey & Boggs (1972)

The plot jumps all over the place and makes it a confusing watch, trying to figure out how, what, who and why this scene is happening is a struggle. Shame as the cast, photography and score are all first class. Walter Hill's script (8/10) deserved a more experienced director who is great with the cast but cannot make a coherent story. The direction and editing are a master class in how not to make a film. If your a fan of seventies film noir then there is much to still enjoy, i liked Robert Culp's scene in the strip joint where is hangdog face works a treat. And it's always fun watching actors when they are pretty young - James Woods and Michael Moriarty look younger than the socks i'm wearing.

The early '70s was a goldmine for Los Angeles noir, as the city matured and the independent film came along for the ride. On the surface, this film is a great example: a complex, almost viscerally intuitive plot, excellent cinematography, decent and often interesting direction and editing, and like so many films shot during this period in Los Angeles, a kind of pre-nostalgia for the often-dark place that was disappearing, and turning into something even worse, a place of mindless, impersonal violence, with the bland corporate character of the late 20th century.That said, the film suffers from perhaps being too understated, and certainly too nihilistic. Fans of Walter Hill might take issue, but this is a problem I have with most of his films; while they might be visually interesting and often brilliant, they are so hopeless as to make one wonder, as the characters in this film do aloud, what the point is. In this film there are two survivors, the title characters; nearly every other character is killed or so one-dimensionally hateful that it renders the conclusion quite unsatisfying. I especially felt the lack of character permitted to Cosby and Culp; while they were certainly playing against their debonair banter in "I Spy" on purpose, Hill's screenplay renders them so oppressed and silent that they are almost outside the story, like some existential Pinter characters dropped in to intentionally find the rock-bottom. It was a valiant effort, but after the final carnage, I found it so pointless and yet a clear sign where Hill was going, into a glamorous, beautiful world of violence for its own sake.

Robert Culp directed this tough '70s crime flick about two down on thier luck private investigators in LA. Culp and Cosby are miles away from the characters they played in I SPY, but the chemistry is still their. Another note - several prominent actors make early appearances in this film - James Woods, and Michael Moriarty. Vincent Gardenia appears in the cliche role of the put upon, aggravated police contact. Good news - this film is now available on DVD. The company releasing it on DVD is AIP films. Quality of the transfer is mediocre, but it's still worth it to see this underrated film again.

Robert Culp is another example of a first-time director not letting traditional storytelling get in the way of his offbeat style (William Peter Blatty being another), and here he takes a cop thriller/mystery and turns it on its head.Although the editing is incoherent in parts, and the plot is often hard to follow, the characterization of the two leads is more important to the director, and he captures a full-fledged pair of down and out detectives truly memorable in their chemistry.Unlike the endless buddy cop films that have turned the genre into bacteria nowondays, here, every scene with Cosby and Culp is hyper-realistic and not without dry humor and dialogue. Additonally. the last 20 minutes of the film are exciting with a lot of solid action, spewing machine-gun bullets, and the final image that plays over the crawl is unforgettably beautiful. Great theme song.