Nieten unter sich

I have this movie on VHS and haven't watched it in quite awhile, but I wanted to leave a quick comment. I found this movie to be quite funny and to be appreciated for the great performances by Robert Foxworth, Paula Prentiss and Harry Dean Stanton. It's a quirky movie to be sure but full of small moments of laughter and sadness. It has just the right pace although some might find it a little slow at moments. If you enjoy a movie that relies on good acting and not special effects, this could be just the movie for scrunching up on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn and relaxing. Also the surprise appearance by a young James Woods supplies just the right amount of comic relief....Enjoy!

It's hard to figure out what went wrong with this adaptation of Joseph Wambaugh's fine romantic comedy/cop drama. Wambaugh himself wrote the script from his novel. Harold Becker, who previously directed another Wambaugh book, "The Onion Field," is back at the helm. The cast, including leads Robert Foxworth and Paula Prentiss (not to mention the outstanding Harry Dean Stanton)are all very good. But for some reason, the movie seems muted and unexciting, missing much of the book's humor and attention to detail. Not a terrible film, but definitely a case where the book was better.

This movie has all the signs of a film that sat on the shelf for a while. When The Onion Field came out, this made Wambaugh (and James Woods) hot again, and they decided to release it -- that's my guess. Look at Woods, in the pre-stardom, almost extra role of the Fiddler.

The reason is simple. Robert Foxworth stinks it out. He delivers such a soft center in the role, the proceedings are even difficult to understand.

The other problem is that the dialogue is long long, pointless and drawn out. The action crawls along a foot a minute while the characters make small talk.

Paula Prentiss is fine, as is Harry Dean Stanton. But sometimes movies don't always jell, and this one sure doesn't either.

The only thing wrong with this movie was the way they handled it upon release. I'm not into Wambaugh cop films, but this was different. Good performance from Robert Foxworth and a lovely, nuanced one from Paula Prentiss (who was NEVER nominated; believe it or not). These are some messed up folks in L.A. in 1980 from different culture, but good cops. Harry Dean Stanton is perfect as the dog-napper, but this flick has a rhythm.

You never really know where this film is going; all the Ukranian background of Foxworth and Prentiss' patience with this troubled over-worked mess of a guy, patiently works a semi-romantic tinge to this strange cop film. It's a 7 out of 10 for sure.

This drama/comedy from Joseph Wambaugh, about cops in crisis, is all over the place. At its best, as in the scenes where detective Valnikov confesses his PTSD to his partner, Zimmerman, or relates his experiences with his cynical, dystopian ex partner, it resembles a good episode of the great 70s, TV series, "Police Story", which Wambaugh created. At its worst, as in the scenes with the bumbling captain and his assistant, it's like a not so good episode of "Barney Miller". And the stuff with Harry Dean Stanton as a sleazy vet pursued by loan sharks is another movie altogether so that this film has the general, awkward feel of two worlds, Bukowski, say, and Wambaugh, constantly bumping into each other. Maybe there was a way to combine these two very different parts into one seamless whole but, if so, it eluded director Harold Becker. You stick with it because Robert Foxworth, Paula Prentiss and Stanton are skilled actors and all do good work here, especially Prentiss whose ability to navigate both comedy and drama, often in the same scene, is admirable and reminds me that she had a dismayingly all too brief career, (basically quitting acting in her fifties). Also noteworthy is Owen Roizman's cinematography that brings early 80s LA, especially the parts bordering the Hollywood Freeway, alive for me. Give it a C plus.

PS...Both Foxworth and Prentiss attended Lamar High in Houston at roughly the same time. Ah, Google!