Double Nickels

This obscure car chase comedy was mostly from the same cast and crew that created the original Gone in 60 Seconds. However, the leading role goes to Jack Vacek, who had worked as cinematographer in 60 and does a pretty decent acting job as the film's cool-cat hero Smokey. The cinematography by Tony Syslo (who would later work as the DP in Halicki's The Junkman) is appropriately gritty, grainy, and sunny to support the backdrop of mid-1970s California. Ed Abrams is also a riot as Smokey's pal and Patrice Schubert is perfect as Smokey's girlfriend. George Cole (Atlee from 60) also appears as one of the repossessors and his sons Anthony and Michael, the low riders appear, ditching their cramped white Cadillac and driving sparkly clean Ford Econo vans.

The car chases aren't exactly as thrilling as Halicki had staged in 60, but they're decent enough to please fans of the genre, particularly a sequence where a Ford Pinto is pursued down a set of stairs and a rollicking police chase through the Los Angeles storm drain. All in all, a valiant effort.

"Smokey" (played by actor / director / co-writer / executive producer / producer / co-editor Jack Vacek) is an amiable highway patrolman who's good buddies with one of his co-workers, Ed (actor / art director Ed Abrams). One day he pulls over a man, George (George Cole) who turns out to be a repo man. Smokey takes George up on his offer: become a repo man himself for some additional cash. Things head South when Smokey and Ed realize that the vehicles that they've been repossessing are being reported as stolen. So they're obliged to take on the brains behind the operation in order to keep from going to jail.

Made by some of the people who worked on the drive-in classic "Gone in 60 Seconds", "Double Nickels" naturally has a pretty simplistic, silly script. It's mostly one car chase after another, but that should come as no surprise. Overall it's rather crude, and *is* amateurishly acted, but when it comes to action sequences it delivers the goods fairly well. A lot of cars go very fast and sometimes crash into things; one thing that helps the proceedings is that Vacek and company do maintain a sense of humour and fun that makes this palatable if nothing special. Vacek, Abrams, and Cole are reasonably likable, as is lovely Patrice Schubert as Jordan, a nice gal whom Smokey pulls over at one point and who becomes an understanding girlfriend. Decent tunes are another asset. The unqualified highlight happens when a cop car chases a Pinto down a narrow set of stairs. It's absurd enough to be fairly memorable.

Fans of this kind of entertainment will likely find that this kills time easily enough.

Five out of 10.

"Double Nickels" is one of the many good, but virtually unknown, 1970's era car chase thrillers. Jack Vacek (director/star) was a "Gone in 60 Seconds" veteran and offers some unusual twists. The Pinto being chased down the stairs is a good example of originality in the car chase format. An entertaining first solo effort. Other work by Vacek is seen in Halicki cult classics "The Junkman" and "Deadline Auto Theft." Vacek also produced a decent film around 1987 called "Deadly Addiction."

"Double Nickels" is a pretty good 70's car chase flick, which means its not all that good as a film, but for a gearhead like me it's great. Jack Vacek, George Cole, and Ed Abrams were all in "Gone in 60 Seconds." The whole movie has the "Gone" vibe too it. It's about two California Highway Patrolmen (Vacek and Abrams) who moonlight as Repomen for George Cole, it's got some funny bits, some good chases and a great look at 70's California. On the car front, as cops Vacke and Abrams drive pretty sweet '74 or '75 Dodge Monaco's (much like the car in "The Blues Brothers") Vacke and ratty late 50's Chevy pickup, and the last chase is in a BEAUTIFUL 1968 Chevelle SS/396 and a pretty funny chase in a Pinto. Overall its not as good as "Gone in 60 Seconds," but its worth a look if you like car chase flicks.

Smokey is a highway patrolman in California who decides to make some extra money with his partner by repossessing cars (and even the occasional boat) whose owners have been lax in making payments. That's it for the plot. This movie wasn't made to be plot-heavy. It was made to show various car chases and have tires screeching. And it does. When Smokey finds out some of the repo'd vehicles are actually stolen and on the 'hot sheet' he and his cop partner have to swing into action to make sure they don't end up in the slammer.

Lotsa car chases and stunts, a little romance (Smokey finds himself a tolerant girlfriend) and some reasonably likable characters make this a fun movie to watch if you're into drive-in movies from the (sadly) long-gone 1970s -- when the livin' was free and easy. Looks like some of the movie was filmed on the Pacific Coast Highway, I might add. No studio stuff here . . .

TIME TO BURN RUBBER.