The Big Score (1983)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Fred Williamson

Writer:

Gail Morgan Hickman (writer)

Release Date:

25 November 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Detective Hooks is out to shake up the Mob and the whole damn Police Force.

Plot:

A narcotics detective lets nothing stand in the way of his bringing down a major drug dealer.

Plot Keywords:

Money | Nightclub Singer | Informant | Drug Deal | Chicago Illinois

Cast

Fred Williamson	...	Detective Frank Hooks
Nancy Wilson	...	Angie Hooks
John Saxon	...	Davis
Richard Roundtree	...	Gordon
Ed Lauter	...	Parks
D'Urville Martin	...	Easy
Michael Dante	...	Goldy
Bruce Glover	...	Koslo
Joe Spinell	...	Mayfield
Frank Pesce	...	J.C.
Tony King	...	Jumbo
James Spinks	...	Cheech
Chelcie Ross	...	Hoffa
Stack Pierce	...	New
Jerome Landfield	...	Chief of Detectives

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Norway:16 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Po' Boy Productions

Soundtrack:

Glow Love

Forget It

This is now the second movie I've seen this year from Fred Willamson that sucked. The first was ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO back in April. While all of these movies are action oriented, the problem is there's no budget, which makes viewing these films a cheap thrill. Here in the cast we get John Saxon, Richard Roundtree, Ed Lauter, Bruce Glover and Joe Spinell, yet the whole affair feels like it was shot on a home video recorder. With a solid cast like that, you keep telling yourself, if only they had a bigger budget, then things would've really been rocking. But there are other flaws that hamper this movie besides the cheap budget. The dialogue. Throughout the entire movie, there are instances where it makes no sense. For example, when Williamson is suspended by the Chicago PD Internal Affairs division because the narcs never recovered a million dollars after a drug bust, Ed Lauter tells him to hand in his gun, but not his badge. And to top things off, Roundtree disappears midway through the movie never to be heard from again. There are so many other instances like this that bog the whole film down, you're better off just watching a re-run of HILL STREET BLUES. On a lighter note, there are a couple times during the film when we get to see real life musicians, like Ramsey Lewis and a soul group whose dressed in white suits with red bow ties that might be the Mac Band. Jay Chattaway's score is once again above par.

Score, 3 out of 10 Stars