Sidney Poitier, presumably in a effort to soften an image defined by his relentless personal dignity and gravitas—a problem shared, at least to my mind, by Poitier’s modern analogue, Denzel Washington—in the ’70s teamed up with Bill Cosby to make three movies. (Don’t worry, these were all substantially better than Leonard Part 6 or Ghost Dad.) Poitier also directed all three movies, and as with his acting, his helming style was authoritative but rigid.
This was the last of the three, and probably the least. It’s not a bad movie, but it’s not really a good one, either. Poitier is a high end conman who early in the movie tags a big time hoodlum. Cosby is an equally accomplished burglar and safecracker. Suddenly, the two men are brought together when they find themselves blackmailed and forced to work at a local, Chicago community center. They do their time while trying to learn who is blackmailing them, but naturally eventually come to actually care about reforming the young adults put in their charge.
In other words, this is an attempt, and a not really successful one, to merge a generally light-hearted crime tale (which is what their two earlier films, Uptown Saturday Night and Let’s Do it Again, were) with a social message film ala Poitier’s earlier teaching film, To Sir, With Love. Despite the length of the film—a more than necessary two hours and fifteen minutes—these two halves never really jell. They should have gone one way or the other.
Although the subplot about kids at the community center gets a lot of time, their reformation into good citizens still seems rushed and overly easy. Nor are the kids very convincing. Despite a shot of MJ cigarettes and some swearing, we’re essentially talking the Sweathogs here. And the film doesn’t have the knack of being earnest without being preachy. There’s no doubt that these social issues, especially education, are ones that both Poitier and Cosby deeply care about. However, that sadly doesn’t in itself guarantee a great movie.
The crime stuff seems equally rushed, and the film oddly flirts with making the mobsters (who naturally pop back up at the very worst time) seem genuinely dangerous, yet ultimately not allowing them to do much more than they might in a live-action Disney film of the period. Again, there are noticeable tonal problems here. Also, the stunt doubles used to suggest how limber and acrobatic both the leads are—again, Cosby is supposed to be a high-end second story man, come across as pretty funny.
Even so, Poitier and Cosby are always fun to watch, although again comedy is not (to say the least) Poitier’s strong suit, and Cosby can, occasionally, lay on the shtick a tad thick. They have a natural chemistry, however, and you can see why they were successful making movies together. I’d suggest something like this for Washington, frankly, except who would be his Cosby? Chris Tucker? Yuck. Hmm, actually, Bernie Mac…
Aside from the two leads, the cast is fun. A young and (comparatively) trim James Earl Jones has a major supporting role as a cop, and one can just sit back and listen to that voice all day. Denise Nicholas is the female lead, and had a major role in Blacula. Jones’ partner is played by Jason Evers, best known as the mad medico from the sleaze classic The Brain that Wouldn’t Die. And a briefly seen monk is played by a young Angus Scrimm (!), Tall Man from the Phantasm series. The most recognizable of the kids, meanwhile, is played by Ernest Thomas, the star of TV’s What’s Happening?
All in all this is a decent enough time-waster, but unless you’re just a fan of either Poitier or Cosby, you can probably stick with their earlier, more outrightly comic films.
