In the early 70s, and more particularly in the years after the tremendous success of Clint Eastwood's action-landmark "Dirty Harry", there were several movies about tough and robust cops disobeying their superiors and using harshly unorthodox methods to bring down criminals that were always abusing the weak justice system. Although none of these movies are as iconic as Don Siegel's "Dirty Harry" or William Friedkin's "The French Connection", quite a few of them are intriguing and unjustly forgotten, like "Badge 383", "Fuzz", or "Busting".
This was one of the first efforts of the multi-talented but shamefully underrated writer/director Peter Hyams. Hyams is at his best when he's working from his own screenplays. "Capricorn One" and "Outland" are his best, but "Busting" as well is a really clever, genuinely funny, and terrifically made R-rated buddy cop/exploitation thriller. The chemistry between lead actors Elliot Gould and Robert Blake is splendid, depicting two LA vice squad officers. Their modus operandi is always the same. Keneely (Gould) provokes, which always works smoothly since he also genuinely looks like a sleaze bag with his big moustache and messy hair, and then Farrell (Blake) joins for the arrest. They intend to bring down the prostitution & sex clubs imperium of local mobster Rizzo, but Rizzo is powerful and has influential friends in high places.
The tone of "Busting" is delightfully cynical throughout, and many sequences and dialogues are laugh-out-loud funny. There's also a good portion of graphic and relentless cruel violence, like a confrontation in a supermarket and a brutal retaliation by Rizzo's henchmen against our two detectives. Blake and (especially) Gould own the film, but there are also excellent supportive roles for Michael Lerner, Allen Garfield, cult-icon Sid Haig, and the unearthly beautiful Cornelia Sharpe.
This was one of the first efforts of the multi-talented but shamefully underrated writer/director Peter Hyams. Hyams is at his best when he's working from his own screenplays. "Capricorn One" and "Outland" are his best, but "Busting" as well is a really clever, genuinely funny, and terrifically made R-rated buddy cop/exploitation thriller. The chemistry between lead actors Elliot Gould and Robert Blake is splendid, depicting two LA vice squad officers. Their modus operandi is always the same. Keneely (Gould) provokes, which always works smoothly since he also genuinely looks like a sleaze bag with his big moustache and messy hair, and then Farrell (Blake) joins for the arrest. They intend to bring down the prostitution & sex clubs imperium of local mobster Rizzo, but Rizzo is powerful and has influential friends in high places.
The tone of "Busting" is delightfully cynical throughout, and many sequences and dialogues are laugh-out-loud funny. There's also a good portion of graphic and relentless cruel violence, like a confrontation in a supermarket and a brutal retaliation by Rizzo's henchmen against our two detectives. Blake and (especially) Gould own the film, but there are also excellent supportive roles for Michael Lerner, Allen Garfield, cult-icon Sid Haig, and the unearthly beautiful Cornelia Sharpe.