Freebie and the Bean (1974) User Reviews

A Lost 1970's classic. What a belter.

[El-Scotcho · 8/10 · 6 August 2005]

The Daddy of 'em all. The original & still the best. Arkin & Caan are on top form as (you saw it here first) mis-matched, loose-cannon cops, who leave a trail of destruction (oh, beautiful destruction!) in their wake. With it being the 70's, the language is somewhat 'colourful', which just adds to Caan's character. Foul-mouthed 70's cops, don't you just love 'em? The stunts are top-notch and spectacular, not to mention highly original and almost comic book (The car pile-up scene & 'that' scene where they crash the car)

Rush's direction is excellent as well. He only made this because he couldn't get 'The Stunt Man' off the ground! (which is another corker) Altogether an very, VERY enjoyable romp (COP-romp, that is) The film was virtually remade as Lethal weapon 4 (not to mention 1, 2 & 3!)

My favourite scene is the ludicrous fight in the restaurant kitchen, where Rush must've just said 'try to destroy everything you can in this scene, boys'. Which they did. Brilliant.

odd police pairing

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 2 November 2022]

San Francisco police detectives Freebie (James Caan) and Bean (Alan Arkin) are doing everything and anything to take down crime boss Red Meyers (Jack Kruschen).

It's a lot of car crashes. James Caan and Alan Arkin have a lot of banter. It's all mildly humorous without being all that funny. I'm not sure that Caan and Arkin make a good comedic team or a good action team. Caan is not nearly funny enough to be comedic. Arkin is not hard enough to be dangerous. It's an odd couple of police partners. On the other hand, it is fascinating to see them paired up like this. It's the platypus of police movies.

74 buddy movie is still legendary

[PeterMitchell-506-564364 · 8/10 · 30 January 2013]

Although it's story is a letdown, Caan and Arkin' make a great teaming of "throw the book out the window cops", I'm prepared to forgive this. They're two of the most unruly cops I've ever seen. They're methods of questioning are mostly exorcised by physical violence and threats of intimidation. They total three squad cars in three days, would you believe, one of the cars going off a speed ramp and crashing through a wall of a elderly couples home is a classic. The couple, sitting up in bed, sharing milk and cookies, just have stunned looks. These cops are tailing this old codger, who's involved in racketeering, where there's a good chance he's gonna be hijacked. This leads us to wonder why our dynamic duo are so wasting their time on this clown. They even trawl threw a boot of garbage, fishing out a list, they present to their superior, who tells them "They're not fit to guard the fish at the aquarium". This movie works, thanks to Caan, and especially Arkin, who I loved in this. One interrogation scene, involving a gay guy in a bath, was funny too, wanting the two to rough him up, where Caan says "Let's get out of here before this freak starts drinking the bathwater". Valerie (Rhoda) Harper lends great support as Arkin's wife, while Loretta "Hot lips Hoolahan" Swit pops up as the old codger's mistress. I love this movie every time I watch it. It one of those rare buddy cop movie's where, the cops are so out of line, it's not funny. Sometimes they are like kids, causing an ambulance to topple over at it's end, or chasing each other through a playground while on surveillance of that joker. Don't miss this opportunity view.

Classic 70's actioner!

[thecat72 · 21 November 2000]

A mainstay on cable in the 70's, Freebie and the Bean is by no means "great" but it certainly is thoroughly entertaining to anyone who doesn't let political correctness stand in their way.

This is no doubt a film that can offend; the two cops (especially Caan) use muscle whenever they can; a crossdresser is treated horribly and insulted; there's some racial humor. But hey, this was made in 1974 when people simply weren't as uptight as they are now.

It's a goofy movie, it has goofy music, goofy comedy and a goofy script. The goofiness, violence and non-political correctness of this flick make for an odd mix, but it's an entertaining mix. Cann and Arkin are great in their roles, and show geniune affection and friendship for each other as they try to keep a criminal alive to break a case.

Car chase fans especially like this movie, and there are some classic chases here! The highlight chase shows the duo chasing after a blue car with some truly amazing stuntwork.

All in all if you aren't the easily offended type, and like some goofy comedy mixed with action, it's worth a spin, if only to see how movies were made when not under a watchdog's microscope.

Katzenjammer Kops

[senortuffy · 7/10 · 9 January 2004]

This is a pretty funny movie from the 70's starring James Caan and Alan Arkin as two screwed up police detectives in San Francisco trying to bust a local numbers guy so they can get promotions. By today's standards it's very un-pc - lots of ethnic jokes - but it's still a good laugh.

James Caan and Alan Arkin are very good together. Caan ("Freebie") is the guy who's always trying to get something for nothing, and Arkin ("The Bean") is the straight man and butt of his jokes. It's a good combination as they play off each other very well.

Not much to say about the story. There are several chase scenes that are pretty humorous and lots of mayhem. Valerie Harper plays Arkin's cheating wife and she's pretty good. The rest of the cast is mostly unknowns.

Look for Peter Fonda (uncredited) in the barber shop scene after Freebie and the Bean get in a fight with the Cadillac salesman from Michigan. Richard Rush, who directed this film, also did several of Fonda's biker films from the 60's.

Funny, Outrageous, Jabbering San Fransisco Buddy Cops Seventies Thriller

[ShootingShark · 6/10 · 26 February 2006]

Bean and Freebie are two San Fransisco wiseguy cops eager to put the collar on a big-time mob racketeer, when they get a tipoff there is an out-of-state contract on his head. During a crazy Superbowl weekend, they have to make sure he stays alive long enough for them to make an airtight case against him.

I like seventies cop movies. If you compare this with a quality modern-day police show like CSI, it's not so much that these cops don't go by the book, it's more that they tear up the book, set fire to it and dance around like Injuns. Arkin and Caan are like that in this film; they're constantly shouting at and hitting felons, members of the public and each other, they crash cars, endanger lives, destroy as much property as possible, murder troublesome assassins, break into people's houses, steal things and are generally extreme sociopaths at best. These are the role models I look up to. What really makes this film is the terrific on-screen chemistry between the two leads - Caan is the ultimate Italian American, running-mouth, at's-a-matter-for-you, head-busting, serial womanising jackass whose nickname comes from his penchant for bribes, and Arkin is a delirious, three-scenes-ahead-in-the-script, mad-eyed, wound up too tight, cod-Mexican wannabe officer with problems at home. I love Arkin's unique style; in his prime, nobody played these post-counter-culture nutcases with nearly as much wit and energy as him, not even Jack Nicholson. The sequence where he grills his put-upon wife (a memorable performance by Harper) on her alleged affairs is a real showstopper of stylised, intense, passionate acting, not to be missed. Extremely well directed by the mysterious Rush, a man who made some of the most interesting and least-seen pictures of the pre-Movie Brat generation (his next film, The Stunt Man, took six years to get made), with great location photography by Laszlo Kovacs. Check out the two excellent big crowd chase sequences, with sensational stuntwork by Chuck Bail, who also has a funny cameo as a car salesman who ends up on the receiving end of our heroes' humanitarian police procedures. I do have one gripe with this movie however, which is Unfair Credit Syndrome; why does Morley, who plays the pivotal role of the cross-dressing killer, not make the start credits, when Swit, who's in exactly four shots, gets billed third ? An exciting, barbed, anarchic, eye-popping, laugh-out-loud comedy police thriller.

Ugly, repulsive "comedy" that lacks any witty imagination and insults our intelligence!

[Sonatine97 · 6/10 · 20 August 2000]

A badly dated comedy police caper with Caan & Arkin as the two inept detectives trying to protect a known hood from being assassinated in order to give evidence and put some bigger hoods behind bars.

This film is a complete mess from start to finish: it tries to be funny but fails miserably. Instead of relying on intelligent humour it has to rely on cheap slapstick, repulsive gags and mundane noisy car chases.

The film doesn't paint a pretty picture for the San Franciso police department (or any police authority for that matter), especially if they have dullards like these two running around beating people up like they're mad fascists on a mission to seek out and destroy.

The appearance of James Caan is a huge disappointment for me, so soon after his pivotal performance in The Godfather, he then has to embarrass himself with the tacky little bauble.

Alan Arkin flounces around like a robot with a charisma bypass, or a St Bernard dog looking around in need of a good script. He is truly embarrassing here.

There is nothing inventive or remotely entertaining here, with the possible exception of the wonderful little cameo from Valeria Harper as Arkin's wife.

This film also shows its age in other ways apart from fashion and its dent-easy cars. The way they treat a transvestite is wholly unacceptable & tasteless, and I'm generally against PC in movies. But this film goes to far for the sake of a cheap gag.

Somehow the first five minutes of the film really sums this movie up: Caan & Arkin spend time scouring trash cans for evidence. Well I rather suspect they were also looking for a decent script or perhaps their movie contracts because I'm sure they must have been duped into agreeing to appear in the smelly pile of pants!

*/*****

What a buddy cop, one the best ever made, they are mocking and fooled themselves all around!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 21 May 2023]

At boring world that we live nowadays this picture will be board up by the brainless people self-called politically correct that appears a couple decades to screw up sense of humor that we loved to as displayed in the past, subject as racial profiling and mainly q.u.e.e.r matters who used to talked openly also xen.ofo.bia where Freebie insists talking to your buddy Bean that replays always mocking the American way of life and another things as well.

This picture isn't about cops against the crime properly, it was impose as backdrop to display an interplay of two opposite characters that working together for a long time and their divergent point of view concerning their roots, Bean (Alan Arkin) has a hereditary inheritance from his Mexico's ancestors, in other hand Freebie (James Caan) a true white American a slight hot-head is amuse mocking Bean eating countless "Taco" a day, meanwhile out of the blue Bean was puzzled over his Mexican wife lately has been happy and crooning all the time, also well dressing and so on, thus right away Freebie suggests that Bean's wife has an affair, due his garden were refurbished lately without any expenses appears to pay, Bean cut off Freebie's belief, he didn't implied that it does not meaning an unfaithful of her whatsoever.

Meanwhile Their task are protect an older Mobster Red Meyers (Jack Kruschen) about to die by someone coming from Chicago, upon many chases against unsubs through San Francisco streets the odd couple beat the highscore county destroying police cars, private cars and also damage properties all around, aside some incongruities allowed in the flawed screenplay. The chemistry of both leading role is a show-stopper, another fine sequence when Freebie leaves Bean at your home decided to ascertain over his wife alibi for stayed at late night at motel, as Freebie speaks louder "Wife's thief hide yourself at your home" meanwhile Bean tries catch his unfaithful wife in a fake alibi, worst she convinces him.

I'd watched this fabulous picture in 1992 and since then I've been looking for him, the long waiting is over, unfortunately the official release doesn't provide a classic dubbed version, due the lines are overlapping hindering the fast dialogues, many gags is priceless, don't miss it for nothing, overall is guaranteed fun.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1992 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.5.

The most dysfunctional buddy cop movie I've ever saw!

[GOWBTW · 9/10 · 28 April 2006]

Before Riggs and Murtaugh, or even Starsky & Hutch, there's Freebie and The Bean, most in-your face buddy team of the police force. Maybe they are the laughing stock of the police force. These team make Dirty Harry want to change his ways of handling crime. These guys put the P.B. in Police Brutality! But in a funny way! Other than attacking the perpetrators they attack each other. Freebie(James Caan) is a hot-head and practical joker, while Bean(Alan Arkin) is calm in some ways just as the same as Freebie. Ford really put themselves in high gear with their vehicles, and the famous white LTD, took a lot of punishment through the movie. My favorite scenes is where the car leaped off the bridge, and made a window in someone's apartment. Calling a tow truck? HA! You better call a crane instead. While most cops work out their differences, Freebie and the Bean handle their way, they go at each others throats! This movie is funny, scary, and adventurous all together, with the choice of stars, everything was pulled off great. And how. What a comedy! While you have a chance. 4 out of 5 stars.

Ok comedy movie

[amadeuseisenberg · 7/10 · 20 December 2019]

James Caan is looking good and both main characters have beautiful women. The highlights are all the chases. The car chases are of course what you'd expect from a 70s movie. Nothing but the best, from the golden age of car chases. But it also has one of the best and messiest on foot chases I've ever seen. It's mostly comedy, but gets pretty serious at one point, then ends on a very comedic note again.

Over-The-Top Cartoonish Violence, Yet No Humor

[peterwcohen-300-947200 · 3/10 · 8 July 2022]

This was really something. There was so much that this movie could be, just visible under the surface, but instead you get a mean-spirited agglomeration of absurdly violent spasms. Not in a meaningful, impactful way of a Tarantino, but rather boring and drawn-out. I do give an ounce of credit for the movie demonstrating that innocent bystanders really would get mowed down in a car chase, but why does it have to be treated with (attempted) humor here.

Would have been nice if Loretta Swift and Jack Kruschen were in this move more. Instead an extended irrelevant scene of some hick gorilla wrecking a motel, we could have gotten more plot relevant, and entertaining, scenes with Kruschen or Swit.

A very clever buddy-buddy cop movie that focuses on the interaction between two individuals more than it does the actual story line.

[welchar · 10/10 · 1 June 2005]

A fairly atypical off the wall love-hate relationship between two cops as they try to bring down a tongue-in-cheek bad guy. The story centres around the wacky verbal and non-verbal relationship between Alan Arkin and James Caan more than it does the fairly week plot. This is the whole point of the movie - the story line is in fact incidental! The scene where Freebie steals Bean's gun is a classic example of this, as is the button ripping scene earlier in the film. To add to the drama Bean thinks his wife is having an affair and Freebie offers advice...terrific stuff. Perhaps those of you who gave it a poor review should find the time to watch it again - a little more closely - and savour the unique banter between these two excellent actors.

Richard Rush, RIP

[lee_eisenberg · 6/10 · 2 May 2021]

Richard Rush died recently, so I decided to watch one of his movies. "Freebie and the Bean" is a wacky, funny comedy to the core. Unfortunately, the casual usage of racial and ethnic slurs - plus the negative depiction of a transgender character - drag the movie down. If not for those, I would've given the movie a higher score.

If you can ignore that, you can take pleasure in the full-scale absurdity, as the protagonists spend half the movie speeding around wrecking half the city (between this movie, "Bullitt" and "The Rock", San Francisco makes for some great car chases). One scene in particular looks especially improbable - it involves an apartment - but does anyone watch action comedies expecting realism?

Generally an enjoyable movie.

Brainless and action-packed.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 3 November 2022]

"Freebie and the Bean" is a buddy cop film which was successful in theaters and loved by many of its fans. I just thought it was pretty stupid and it certainly was NOT to my taste.

The film is about two detectives, Freebie (James Caan) and Bean (Alan Arkin). In order to uphold law and order, they pretty much spend the entire film breaking laws and creating disorder. It's all meant to be a comedy and you get to see them beat up suspects, solicit bribes (demanding a sports jacket from a store or implying they'd close them down) and pretty much driving and acting like maniacs. Through the course of the film, you see one maniacal chase scene after another...complete with crashes and crashes and more crashes.

For me, none of this seemed the least bit realistic nor made a lot of sense. At least with the "Lethal Weapon" films, they didn't make a lot of sense but they were funny...."Freebie and the Bean" wasn't. And, I just don't think time has been kind to this movie.

Laugh Riot!

[ConnCarl · 24 April 2004]

One of the best of the cop-buddy-movie genre. Although there is just enough realism to keep the story's premise afloat, Director Richard Rush makes sure that this film doesn't take itself too seriously. Alan Arkin turns in a first-rate performance as the "Bean", the straight guy (with a couple of kinks of his own) against James Cann's maverick "Freebie" character.

There are a few surprising twists, even though a flick this funny doesn't really need much of a plot.

With a strong supporting cast including Valerie Harper and Loretta Swit, I found this feature outrageously funny when I saw it in the theater in 1975, and it's still just as good today. There is a scene with Alex Rocco as the "D.A.", at which my dad, a real-life D.A. at the time, nearly fell out of his seat laughing.

If you can find this classic, by all means watch it. As long as you remember that it's just a spoof, no more a serious look at policing than "Police Academy" was, you'll enjoy yourself. If we're lucky, maybe a DVD release is in the cards.

Transamerica

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 1 December 2016]

I remember watching Freebie and the Bean as a kid and I even remember the short lived television series and I found the film to be enjoyable. I can recall a climactic scene when one of the cops takes on a kung fu kicking cross-dresser. However in later years I came across some extremely negative reviews and decided to re-watch this film after a few decades.

This is a freewheeling film that is a sort of a cross between of MASH and Dirty Harry. James Caan and Alan Arkin play two off beat San Francisco cops trying to take down local crime boss Red Meyer who his also being targeted by a hit-man. In the opening scenes we see them emptying his trash into their car boot to look for evidence.

As the story goes on the plot meanders, at one point we have prolonged scenes where Arkin accuses his wife of cheating on him at other times the story is confusing. The film is an early example of the buddy cop film and also has high levels of gun toting violence, police brutality and zany car chases which must have inspired The Blues Brothers.

I still enjoy some surreal elements of the film such as the scenes Caan and Arkin have with Alex Rocco in his office and the anarchic style is enjoyable to an extent but too often it descends into silliness at the expense of plot development.

However one thing noticeable was the amount of shootings in this film. These two guys make Dirty Harry look like a pacifist. They just brandish their weapons with no regard to the term reasonable force and at times so many ordinary members of the public are put into danger when they are about.

The other issue is the casual racism, homophobia and sexism in this film. I understand the film is of its time so certain derogatory terms are expected but did actress Valerie Harper really had to be listed as 'Beans Wife' in the title credits? Harper plays a hispanic character who is made to look rather brown faced. Then again Arkin is as convincing as a Mexican origin cop as Charlton Heston was in Touch of evil. The blame for all this has to be laid at director Richard Rush to be so behind the curve.

Still the film is fun, Arkin and Caan make a good team and have some good banter. It is actually Arkin who is unpredictable even though he is more cautious compared to the gung ho Caan.

However the similar themed Busting that came out at the same time, which starred Elliot Gould and Robert Blake now looks like to be the better film.

Entertainingly Preposterous

[BoomerDT · 6/10 · 10 November 2022]

Recently watched on TCM, hadn't seen a complete viewing since back in college, with a lovely date, if I remember correctly. I had forgotten how many cars were demolished in this buddy cop flick. Jimmy Caan, a big deal at the time after "The Godfather" is paired with the alwys reliable Alan Arkin as a pair of SF Vice cops who in their pursuit of some numbers kingpin manage to put hundreds of innocent civilians in danger with a series of wild car chases on The Streets of San Francisco. Good place for that kind of thing and watching it almost 50 years later it's a nice time capsule, plenty of cool looking old cars from the 50's and early 60's were no doubt purchased cheaply for destruction. Caan and Arkin are good together in a completely un-PC script. A pair of popular TV actresses of the time, Loretta Swit of MASH and Valerie Harper of "Rhoda" have brief parts that have nothing to do with the plot. Oh yeah, 2 bad guys get shot in public restrooms-you'd think the script author could have found only done one potty killing.

This movie is both odd and quite funny.

[yossarian100 · 9/10 · 18 December 2002]

This movie is both odd and quite funny. I saw Freebie And The Bean at the theater and laughed so hard I was actually asked to leave.

It's always a pleasure to watch Alan Arkin work, and he works so well playing off James Caan, who's fantastic in this film, too. Be forewarned, though, if you're bothered by things politically incorrect, you may be offended by Freebie And The Bean.

The story is unimportant because it's the comic skits that make this movie work. Freebie (James Caan) is part of a detective team who thinks the major part of his benefit package is whatever he can walk away with, while Bean (Alan Arkin) plods along worrying that his wife is having an affair with the landscaper. Freebie and the Bean crashing their car off an overpass and into the upper floor of an apartment building, Freebie giving Bean a fashion lesson about why buttons don't fall off of expensive shirts, or Bean grilling his wife, played by Valerie Harper, attempting to catch her in a lie about the suspected affair....these are worth watching the film for and are some of the funniest scenes I've ever seen. Keep in mind, though, this movie is quite violent and there's this fantastic trans-gendered character who seems to offend alot of folks as well.

I'll own this movie as soon as it comes out on DVD and I totally recommend it.

Awful cop buddy movie with no saving graces whatsoever.

[gsskimsing · 1/10 · 11 April 2007]

One of the worst of the '70's cop movies exploiting the successes of Dirty Harry, French Connection and Bullitt. Probably a role model for the commercial formulaic productions of Bruckheimer, in which a meaningless, contrived plot is disguised by interminable car chases and a loud abrasive soundtrack. One of the chases was probably staged to show off James Caan's motorbiking skills, which were admittedly quite impressive. What little chemistry there was between Alan Arkin and James Caan was swamped by gross overacting, meaningless banter and over-the-top yelling. The filmmakers couldn't decide whether to make a comedy or a police action drama, and failed miserably on both counts. One to be avoided.

Make's 'Dirty Harry, Look Clean!

[greene515 · 10/10 · 26 June 2006]

This Is a classic 70's 'Buddy Buddy comedy/Actioneer, that certainly paved the way for '48hr's 'Leathal Weapon' and many more cop flick's 'Freebie And The Bean' star's James Caan, as the macho tough guy 'freebie' Alan Arkin, is the short fused and neurotic 'Bean'

Freebie And The Bean have one goal together and that's to bring down the Obnoxious 'Red Myer's who is the local mafia kingpin, but whilst waiting for the Warrant to Arrest their man,They have to wait until Monday for the Important Warrant to arrive,The pair have to fight off various hit men,

It's down to Freebie And The Bean, to catch the assassins's And try and get their man with hilarious and riotous result's which have some of the finest car stunt's committed to celluloid!,

Freebie And The Bean Also star's Lorreta Swit, Alex(Godfather Rocco) And Valerie Harper AsArkin's wife,There is a mildly amusing subplot which has Arkin Convinced his Ethnic wife is cheating on him with equally hilarious result's!

The film also excel's in the verbal Chit Chat between Arkin And Caan, The film has numerous funny moment's including the scene where Arkin/Caan, whilst in pursuit of the Assasain's Accidentally Skid off the highway and crash in to two old people's apartment wall! That scene has got to be seen to be believed!

The stunt men and women must have got paid a lot for this film, and it show's incidentally the director Richard Rush, later Directed another cult favorite 'The Stunt Man,

Hopefully warner brother's will finally release this although the film like a lot of 70's classic's is overtly not PC(politically Correct) It'll be great to view it in It's 2:35 -1 Aspect Ratio, a commentary track by Arkin And Caan, would make a load of fan's happy,

Early version of putrid genre

[ArtVandelayImporterExporter · 3/10 · 16 April 2019]

Hollywood has made hundreds of hyper-violent cop buddy pics at this point by 2019. Some well-known and high-grossing, if mostly intellectually bereft. there are all sorts of combos: Black cop/racist Aussie midget. Black cop/Asian martial artist. White cop/black convict. etc. All full of pointless shooting and stupid wisecracks. And cartoonish bad guys. Freebie and the Bean is sort of a prototype early version, where you see the template but Hollywood hadn't quite perfected the formula. Being in a new genre, Caan and Arkin don't really know what they're doing. They have almost zero chemistry. And their methods make Det. Harry Callahan look like a school resource officer.

how many Ford products does it take to screw in a light comedy?

[rhinocerosfive-1 · 9/10 · 8 August 2007]

For what it is - a cop buddy movie - FREEBIE AND THE BEAN is the paragon. Violent action, high comedy, low humor, more car wrecks than a weekend with the Lohans, and something rare in any genre: two hours of genuine sympathy between grown men. Plus Alex Rocco.

Alan Arkin and James Caan play cops in love, an un-ironic friendship displayed with banter and charisma. Mutual appreciation and respect is palpable in every scene. (This is even more impressive in light of Alan Arkin's public denigration of working with Richard Rush and this particular film-making experience generally.) They are aided by a Laurel & Hardy-meet-Lenny Bruce sensibility in the script and direction, which demands the extent of their abilities at the height of their powers. Gifted comedians both, Arkin and Caan invest the technical stuff - timing, delivery, physicality - with real emotion. It doesn't hurt that Robert Kaufman and Floyd Mutrux have given them wonderful things to say, and wonderful situations in which to say them.

Richard Rush uses a lot of carnival music, and this is not his only evidence of carny taste. He likes to titillate, shock and amaze. That's all fine, as far as entertainment goes, but Rush has aspirations. Throughout his career he's made gestures to the absurd and surreal, with mixed results. His movies often seem giddy, his hand showing on purpose, pawing in self-reflexive gesture. This kind of trapeze act doesn't always work. THE STUNTMAN, for all its many virtues, does not pull off 100% of the tricks up its sleeve. Fellini and Fosse had a surer hand for that sort of detail.

This movie aims lower and succeeds at just about every level, though careening on two wheels. The whole film feels just on the edge of out-of-control: the plot, the story, the action, all strain credibility. The cops kill people, destroy public and private property, bicker, donnybrook; the robbers preen, prance and pratfall. The jokes and the violence push the limits of good taste. And the guy on that trials bike isn't even trying to look like James Caan. But it's all part of the cuckoo world of Me Generation Hollywood, show biz kids drunk with power and roaring for approval. You can almost catch a buzz off all the cocaine blowing around the post-hippie pre-yuppie San Francisco set.

10/10 40 years ago, but hasn't aged well

[jeffjohnston-13327 · 5/10 · 5 May 2018]

My Dad took me to see this in the theatre when I was 11 and we both loved it. For the last couple of decades my Dad has been asking me if I could find a copy so we could watch it again. I finally found a copy and we sat down to watch it after almost 45 years. My Dad was thrilled! We both really wanted to love it as much as we did in 1973. We didn't.

Everything was way over the top! Brutally corny and ham-fisted. We watched about 15 minutes (I was prepared to suffer through the whole movie if necessary) when my Dad said, "Yah. Okay. This is crap", and I had to agree.

We wanted to LOVE this movie. We had such great memories of seeing it in the theatre, yet we couldn't stand it for more than about 15 minutes.I was so relieved that he wanted to turn it off, but I was so disappointed that this movie wasn't what we remembered.

If you watch this today and love it I really envy you.

10 out of 10, aged down to an unwatchable 1. Average: 5

Don't take it so seriously!

[Andrew_Walton · 10/10 · 29 October 2004]

OMG. I can't believe all the chuckleheads banging on about un-pc this and too much violence that. It's a stupid 70's comedy and one of the five best from the 70's - Slapshot, Uptown Saturday Night and Animal House being three others.

You get one choice of your own to add!

I just watched it again today and still enjoyed it as much as when I first saw it in the 70's. Basically it takes the formula for chase gags straight the era of Buster Keaton as such and updates them to the 70's.

I'm still trying to figure out how some people claim that Arkin is a stiff and has no chemistry with Cann. The only better pairing from that period for comedy has been Cosby and Poitier.

I'm also running All In The Family (another celebration of un-PCness) and again, it's dated but I see very few people with the guts to put out that kind of comedy today.

My brief review of the film

[sol- · 4/10 · 11 October 2005]

Ultimately this film is meant to be about friendships, or at least that is what many scenes, as well as the film's tagline "above all, it's a love story", allude to. Caan and Arkin work fairly well together, however the film does not have much to say in terms of friendships. What messages may have been present become lost in the excessive violence, rambling dialogue, and mindless car crashes that plague the film. There are many useless supporting characters too, and there is not much a plot driving the material either. Still, in the mix there are amusing bits, and some interesting, even if far too light, insight into police work. Loretta Swit is also effective in the three or four minutes that she has on screen. It is not a terrible film overall, and arguably it has a good backbone with the potential of the material, but it does definitely have much room for improvement.