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Sorry, this movie sucks

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Admirable film.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The police at a Boston, Massachusetts precinct search for a mad bomber who's trying to extort money from the city. Meanwhile, the cops must also contend with arson attacks on homeless people, a rapist in a local park, and a string of robberies in the area. Director Richard A. Colla offers a pleasing mix of rousing action and cynical comedy that unfolds at a snappy pace, makes good use of the gritty urban locations, and delivers a colorful portrait of the camaraderie amongst the police who are always up to their ears with their assorted cases. The sound acting from the excellent ensemble cast keeps the movie humming: Burt Reynolds as the laid-back Steve Carella, Tom Skerritt as breezy smartaleck Bert Kling, Jack Weston as the huffy Meyer, Raquel Welch as sassy'n'sexy undercover lady cop Eileen McHenry, James McEachin as the easygoing Arthur Brown, Bert Remsen as irascible desk sergeant Murchison, and Don Gordon as antsy low-life hoodlum Anthony La Bresca. Yul Brynner does well as a smooth criminal mastermind. Popping up in small parts are a bunch of familiar character actors who include Charles Tyner, Britt Leach, Albert Popwell, Norman Burton, and a very young Charles Martin Smith (as a whiny'n'wimpy arsonist). Evan Hunter's episodic script neatly captures the chaotic and unpredictable nature of police work. The fact that this film shows the cops going about their daily routines gives it an extra credibility. The exciting climax nicely ties several subplots together. Jacques Marquette's crisp widescreen cinematography boasts lots of cool mobile camera-work. Dave Grusin's funky-throbbing score hits the get-down groovy spot. A nifty flick.

I am not one who likes police or public safety movies because I cannot relate to Hollywood's false renditions thanks to my experience as a cop in a large city. I can say that this was how police a precinct is with minimal exaggerated humor attached. Police stations may never have that many officers or detectives at one time except at shift change, but there was a scene where almost nobody could could be found at the station which was more realistic. I liked how the movie gave us a lot of different cops, unlike typical movies which show the same one or two cops doing all the work without any collaboration of anyone else. The movie even portrayed police as average boneheads, unlike the unrealistic super brains or Dirty Harry hard-asses usually portrayed in movies. I actually laughed through the movie. I was able to relate more with the cops in this movie than those on "Law and Order" or "CSI".Now the movie was too short to unfold the characters better. I had hoped the cops would actually solve the case and prove they were not "inept" as "The Deaf Man" called them, but that was not to be. All was solved by consequence when all the main perps came together by chance. But, then again, only on TV or in the movies do the police solve all their crimes. I found the movie "Mother, Jugs, and Speed", a cult classic among ambulance people to this day, to be similar in humor.

***SPOILERS*** There's these two snot-nose teenagers out to clean up the neighborhood by setting homeless persons on fire. I guess murderers rapists and muggers were a little too tough for these fearless heroes to handle. This leads Det. Carella, Burt Reynolds, to go undercover in hand-me-down cloths as bait to catch these self-anointed crime fighters. It seemed that Carella was so surprised that the two were overage bed wetters, like you have to be a grown up to do these kind of things, that he loses his concentration drops his guard and almost gets burned to death by them throwing a lit can of gasoline on him.At the Boston 87th precinct police station there's a call demanding $5,000.00 or else the parks commissioner would be killed. Laughing off the threat a while later like the call said the commissioner is blown up in his car going to a political dinner. The threats to murder top city officials and the two young creeps setting homeless men on fire at first have nothing to do with each other at first. Yet by the time the movie "Fuzz" is over they somehow become connected to give the movie a happy, and ironic, ending."Fuzz" is a M.A.S.H like story of police in the big city with some dozen sub-plots going on all at once. The sub-plots make you feel like your watching four or five movies, by turning the channels, at one time. For us guys in the audience there's busty and almost unapproachable especially by Det. Carella, who's can't even get into a single scene with her, Det. Eileen McHenry, Raquel Welch. Det.McHenry is assigned to the 87th as a specialist in rape cases. Later she's put undercover, or under the covers, with cute and cuddly as a Teddy Bear Det. Kling, Tom Skeritt, in trying to find who's extorting the city of thousands of dollars in threats to kill off it's top officials.The film "Fuzz" has a number of scenes that are totally unconnected with the extortion plot by this El Sordo, Yul Brynner, better known as the guy with the thing, hearing aid, in his ear who's the main villain in the movie. Where as for the two aforementioned wimpy teenage "crime fighter", who fight crime by setting innocent and helpless bums or hobos on fire, are just too cowardly and stupid to be anything approaching a criminal master mind or villain like El Sordo the bald headed deaf man.Unelievably complicated ending with El Sordo and his gang about to celebrate their blowing up of Boston's City Hall going to a liquor store, to buy a bottle of champaign. The liquor store that's about to be robbed by these two not too bright hoodlums Tony & Pete, Don Gordon & Charles Tyner, of a big $86.00 in the till, with Det. Carella and his partner the bumbling Det. Meyer, Jack Weston, assigned to stake the place out.The shootout that follows foils El Sordo's plan to blow up City Hall with his plans discovered by Det. Kling who just happened to show up. The now on the run deaf one, soaked with booze after the liquor store shootout, ends up passing out along the docks only to run into the two teenage crime fighter, mistaking him for a drunken bum, who set the poor and almost unconscious man on fire with a Molotov cocktail.What's really interesting about the movie "Fuzz" is that it's two top stars Burt Reynolds and Raquel Welch weren't even on speaking terms with each other, on and off the screen. Which made it very difficult if not impossible for any interaction between the two. It was as if you were watching a split-screen of two different films with two totally different stories. El Sordo did somehow survive his ordeal as the movie ended to the tune of Burt's girlfriend, at the time, the late Dina Shore singing "I'll be seeing you". Still after that final scene in the movie "Fuzz" that was the last time we ever saw him since there was no "Fuzz" sequel.

After reading several bad reviews of this film I was almost afraid to watch it. I hate wasting my time on bad movies, but I decided based on the cast to give it a go and I'm glad I did. The movie is not a fast paced comedy by any stretch of the imagination. It is instead, like many movies from it's time, a slow moving style of film along the lines of The Big Fix. It keeps your interest because the characters are interesting. It makes you laugh at times and actually has a little suspense mixed into a story that seems disjointed at first, but ties together so well in the end it makes the whole movie work.The plot centers partially around a bombers scheme to blackmail the city of Boston, but more so around the police precinct he chooses to contact with his threats. We see a group of officers trying to get through their daily routine as they work on several cases at once. Focusing on the bomber but still trying to deal with a myriad of other problems that present themselves as they try to solve other crimes. It presents itself as more of a "day in the life" type movie rather than a film with one main focus. It's well acted, well told and is a good movie for those times when you really want to just relax and get into a story. Sure it has a few weak spots as with most movies but it is certainly worth putting on and I'm very glad I had the chance to see it.In short, if your looking for Starskey & Hutch 2005, this isn't it. If your looking for a slow paced intelligent movie, don't let bad reviews chase you away and give this film a shot.