Watch Friday Foster For Free

To me, this movie is perfection.

A Masterpiece!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This comic strip adaptation stars delectable 1970s icon Pam Grier as the title character, a fashion photographer in Washington, D.C., who gets caught up in an assassination attempt at an airport. This is just the beginning of the troubles; after her model friend Cloris (Rosalind Miles) is killed during a show, she gets personally involved and does some sleuthing - ably assisted by her friend Colt Hawkins (Yaphet Kotto), a private investigator. Eventually, she discovers a plot to eliminate various black leaders.Pam truly was a queen of Cool during this time, but her charming personality - and ample assets - can only do so much to enliven what is an underwhelming script (by Orville H. Hampton, based on a screen story by producer & director Arthur Marks). There is some bloody squib action going on, but the action in this movie is largely perfunctory. As in any Blaxploitation flick of this period, there is a certain degree of fun in checking out the fashions and listening to that funky music. (However, the score by Luchi De Jesus leans a little too heavily on a talk box.) Kotto offers one of his loosest ever performances, and is a great match for Pam. Supporting them are an impressive assortment of familiar faces: Godfrey Cambridge, Thalmus Rasulala, an amusingly hammy Eartha Kitt, Jim Backus (who's wasted in what amounts to a cameo role), Scatman Crothers, 'The Love Boat''s Ted Lange, Paul Benjamin, Jason Bernard, Julius Harris, and Carl Weathers in a pre-"Rocky" featured role as a none-too- competent hired killer.All in all, this is an okay viewing for fans of Pam, but there's nothing terribly distinguished or memorable about it.Six out of 10.

Surprisingly mild vehicle for Pam Grier, targeted at the black urban audiences of the 1970s, isn't terribly good despite a varied roster of bemused supporting talents, including Jim Backus, Yaphet Kotto, Scatman Crothers, Godfrey Cambridge, Carl Weathers from "Rocky", Ted Lange from "The Love Boat", and Eartha Kitt, hamming it up as usual playing a breathless fashion designer. Grier (looking lovely) is cast as a professional shutterbug tracking down an assassination ring who target black politicians. Campy nonsense is hardly "The Manchurian Candidate", though it does have a fresh moment here and there. The assembly-line shootout-climax is tired, and the film's production seems cheesy, but Kotto just about steals the picture as Grier's sidekick. ** from ****

"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.

Based on a comic strip, this movie was colorful and believable as one. Pam Grier as a fashion photographer getting mixed up in romance and intrigue sounds like a great idea but this movie never pulls it off. All I can recommend is the off the wall supporting cast. Not by casting unusual actors but the parts these actors play. With the exception of Eartha Kitt and Scatman Crothers playing what one would expect, the others play characters that they would not be known for in later years. Take Ted Lange: remembered for the happy go-lucky Issac on "The Love Boat", here he is the stereotypical pimp with the clothes and dialogue to match. Yaphet Kotto, is the comic sidekick; I don't think I have ever seen him smile as much as he did in this movie. Carl Weathers as the silent killer is also a little strange. Jim Backus gets prominent billing and he is in the movie for just two minutes! Well, it's a fast 90 minutes and there are worse things to watch.