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Awesome Movie

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Upon being released from San Quentin the first thing "Sidney Lord Jones" (Thalmus Rasululu) does is to head to Los Angeles with a plan that involves stealing $3 million in diamonds from a large brokerage there in the city. To do this he borrows $50,000 from a crime boss named "Bill Mercer" (Raymond St. Jacques) in order to hire three men to assist him with the heist. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned as one of the men is shot during the burglary and another is also shot when Mercer tries to double-cross Sidney and his crew. And then things go downhill from there. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a fairly good "Blaxploitation film" which had an interesting plot (even if it was apparently borrowed from "The Asphalt Jungle" some 22 years earlier) and some decent acting as well. Likewise, having an attractive actress like Judy Pace (as Sidney's girlfriend "Obalese Eaton") certainly didn't hurt either. In any case, those who enjoy films of this nature may want to check this one out and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Shrewd criminal mastermind Sidley Lord James (smoothly played with charisma to burn by Thalmus Rasulala) gets paroled from prison. James concocts a bold scheme to steal three million worth of jewelry, but things go awry when human error encounters into the deal. Writer/director Barry Pollack relates the complex and compelling story at a quick pace, offers a flavorsome evocation of the gritty urban environment, brings an engaging hip sensibility to the already sound premise, and presents a neat rogues' gallery of colorful lowlife characters. The fine acting from the bang-up cast keeps this movie humming: Judy Pace as the sweet Obalese Eaton, Jim Watkins as bitter and down on his luck Vietnam veteran Travis Battle, Lincoln Kilpatrick as hard-nosed corrupt cop Lt. Brian Knowles, Sam Laws as jolly bookie Finian, Raymond St. Jacques as the slippery Bill Mercer, Stack Pierce as Mercer's shady partner Tinker, and Margaret Avery as the ditsy Lark. Pam Grier has a regrettably small part as a prostitute, but does at least bare her beautifully bountiful breasts. The amusing sense of cheeky humor and generous sprinkling of tasty female nudity rate as additional pluses. The heist is quite gripping and exciting. Kudos are also in order for Solomon Burke's funky chilling score and the polished cinematography by Andrew Davis. A nifty flick.

The idea behind this movie - remaking "The Asphalt Jungle" with a mostly black cast - did have some promise. But the end results fail in just about every way you can think of. The movie is directed in a way that has some real grit and atmosphere - you can feel the run down atmosphere of 1970s Los Angeles. And things are wrapped up in the end in a cynical way that you could only get in 1970s cinema. But the screenplay is a mess. It takes FOREVER for the movie to really start going. When the robbery is executed, it comes as a surprise, since we previous saw almost no preparation for it. And after the robbery, the movie slows down once again, unfolding so slowly that I think even the black audience this was aimed at was sorely bored. It doesn't help that there is not one sympathetic character in the entire movie. This is one breeze that has the scent of a real stinker.

Some more input from the other review here, I caught a good print of this on TCM Middle East so maybe TCM US will play it sometime also. I enjoyed this escapist entertainment, you definitely would not take this movie seriously in any way. It's the kind of movie you would have caught at a drive thru or at a 2nd tier movie theater like on 42nd street in the 70's. Umong the best reasons to see this is a long full frontal of Pam Greere's bust, something that other movies she made early on lack but people rent just to see (like me, lol). As far as that goes, may I say that some things are best left to the imagination, the real thing will never live up to the fantasy (if there's a Rachel Welch/ Sophia Lauren/Gina Lola.... movie out there with actual nudity I'll pass now, I'd hate to spoil those fantasy's). The Asphalt Jungle is one of my favorite movies so thats the second reason why I wanted to see it (the Pam Greer factor was an unexpected surprise because I didn't know she was in this film). It's a low budget Blaxploitation film and of the few I've seen its better than most and for the white boy that I am kept me watching till the end (I lost interest in the others pretty fast). There's a good bit of T&A and a lot of it is nude, big pluses for me in a low budget flick. The story deviates from the earlier version but its not a bad thing, it's almost a must have for this to have some type of "good" ending. I didn't think the Whites were made too stupid or bad which was good, and probably makes this hold up better as time goes on. I really liked the acting by Sam Laws by the way, he did alright as did most of the cast and the ladies were very pretty (God I'm fixated on the babes in this flick, lol). Catch the sign at the Bathhouses front counter that says "No Homos Allowed" .....classic. 7/10 for the entertainment factor.