Friday Foster (1975)

"Friday Foster" (Pam Grier) is a photographer for a magazine in Los Angeles who is sent on an assignment to get pictures of a reclusive billionaire named "Blake Tarr" (Thalmus Rasulala) who is arriving in secret at a nearby airport. Anyway, as she is photographing him from a hidden vantage point, three armed assassins suddenly appear and attempt to kill him. Although she is fortunate to get several pictures of this incident she also finds herself getting drawn deeper and deeper into a complicated and highly dangerous situation which has serious implications for everyone concerned. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that fans of Pam Grier will probably really like this particular film as she performs in an excellent manner. Unfortunately, she was plagued with a weak script, the plot lacked focus and the director (Arthur Marks) failed to utilize an exceptional supporting cast to their full advantage. Yet, while Pam Grier was able to rise above these obstacles to a certain degree I cannot honestly say the same for her other colleagues--especially Yaphet Kotto (as "Colt Hawkins") whose performance seemed both odd and uneven. In any case, I felt somewhat disappointed in this movie and I have rated it accordingly.

I had never heard of Pam Grier until she co-starred in "Mars Attacks!" and then got a lead role in "Jackie Brown". I later learned that she was a blaxploitation star in the '70s, and I've finally gotten to see an example. "Friday Foster" casts her as an ultra-cool photographer whose life takes a dangerous turn after she witnesses an assassination attempt. There's no shortage of fun stuff. Seriously, Pam Grier is one sh*t-kickin' babe! A particularly surprising thing is the cast. In addition to Pam Grier, there's Carl Weathers, Eartha Kitt, Godfrey Cambridge, Jason Bernard, Jim Backus, Scatman Crothers and Yaphet Kotto. Ergo, this movie contains Foxy Brown, Apollo Creed, Catwoman, Gravedigger Jones, Steve Martin's friend in "All of Me", Thurston Howell III, Dick Halloran and of the Alien's victims.But anyway, it's just a really cool movie. I have no doubt that they had fun making it.Delivering the milk. Indeed!

"Friday Foster" is one of the best blaxploitation films in terms of time capsule. The clothes, the afros, the music , the cars and the overall feel of an era is really displayed here better than other movies of the genre, but sadly it's not a good movie if you consider the story, the plot, and the action. Half a comedy, half a detective story with less violence or sex than "Coffy", "Foxy Brown", "Shaft" or other similar movies. But the exceptionally good cast deserves attention: Yaphet Kotto (Alien, Live and Let Die) is a wonderful actor here in excellent form, both strong and funny, Carl Weathers, years before stardom in "Rocky", Eartha Kitt (the black Catwoman from TV's Batman), Ted Lande (the bartender from "Love Boat"!), Thalmus Rasulala, Julius Harris, Jim Backus, etc. Far from the best of Pam Grier, but a charming movie to watch.

Jack Hill's brilliant 'Coffy' is one of the 1970s best exploitation movies and remains the definitive Pam Grier role. It's such a pity that within two years Grier was forced into making something as mediocre as 'Friday Foster'. It's no wonder he career quickly went down the toilet after lame movies like this and 'Sheba, Baby'! 'Coffy' is a classic revenge movie and actually had some element of realism. Hill's next collaboration with Grier 'Foxy Brown' stepped away from that, and I didn't enjoy it as much, but compared to this it's a masterpiece. In 'Friday Foster' Grier is getting even closer to 'Cleopatra Jones' territory, but without the fun and style of that movie or its sequel. This movie actually has one of the best supporting casts of any blaxploitation film, but even that fails to satisfy. Yaphet Kotto plays Grier's detective buddy, and Julius Harris is her boss. Plus there's Scatman Crothers ('Black Belt Jones'), Thalmus Rasulala ('Blacula'), Godfrey Cambridge ('Cotton Comes To Harlem'), Paul Benjamin ('Across 110th Street') and Carl Weathers ('Rocky'), as well as Eartha Kitt, Isaac the bartender from 'The Love Boat' (Ted Lange) and even inexplicably 'Gilligan's Island's Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus)! As much as I love Grier and Kotto, 'Friday Foster's paper thin plot didn't hold my interest for very long and I was bored way before the climactic shootout. I regard this and 'Truck Turner' (which funnily enough also co-stars Yaphet Kotto) as the two most disappointing blaxploitation movies I've seen. If you want to see Pam Grier at her best watch 'Coffy', then follow it up with 'Foxy Brown' and 'Jackie Brown'. All three movies wipe the floor with this limp effort.