Number One with a Bullet

No one will ever say this was a "great film", but it's still got plenty of redeeming qualities that place it far above most of the tripe Hollywierd is pumping out these days. An endless stream of subtle but hilarious one-liners ("Man, I was just on the toilet thinking' about you. Ain't life a bitch?" and "I guess he shoulda froze." "Well, it's not like we didn't tell him."), scene setups that have been copied to death for their comic potential (like the drying-out scene), and the cliché but still fresh presentation of a classic buddy-movie. Even the annoying characters (like Mom) are somehow entertaining in their own way. It doesn't surprise me that this title is conspicuously absent from rental shelves, but I, for one, will be glad when it's finally available on DVD.

PS I still find myself quoting this movie at least once a week: "No, thanks. I'm on a low-mucous diet." :-D

Number One With A Bullet is a buddy cop action/thriller with the mismatched pair of actors Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams. I am a fan of both of the leading men in this film, however they have zero onscreen chemistry. This was a later era film for Cannon studios and was poorly promoted and I didn't even know that this existed until recently. Robert Carradine put forth a effort in this movie, but was definitely not right for this. Billie Dee Williams is always cool, but can't really elevate a movie that's nothing special in the first place. Even the action is not that great and this is the same company that made Invasion USA. I would rather watch that instead.

Don't get me wrong, this is a horribly by the numbers, worthless and forgetable film, but in my circle of friends it has developed a cult classic status. This is due to a friend giving me repeated copies of it as gifts as a long running joke. This caused me and some other friends to make our own sequel to it, Number 2 With a Bullet, to give to him on his birthday. After showing our film to some more friends we then made another, Number 3 With a Bullet. We even plan to make another in the next month. These are crudely made pieces but are highly entertaining nonetheless (more so than the original it has to be said).

I hope that one day the makers of this poor buddy movie discover the legacy they have created (just as long as they don't sue).

The following review contains negative opinions about a bad movie. Please note, Billy Dee Williams is exempt from all negative comments because that man radiates so much charm and cool that even in this debacle he shines.

Now on to your scheduled review.

Holy bad acting, Batman! This thing is an absolute, ungodly mess. The performances are awful, the plot is boring and overplayed and the... You know what, I can sum this one up really easy. At multiple times this reminded me of The Room. The awkward jumps from thing to thing, the stunned acting, the effort to make one character just seem really, really cool (and it wasn't Billy Dee). If Tommy Wiseau made a Lethal Weapon knock off, this is what you'd get.

Oh, throw in some really casual police corruption and power tripping for good measure. If not for the incredible charisma of one Mr Williams, this would get a rock bottom score but that man is a treasure so he bumps it up a bit.

The only way I could recommend this is if you've only ever seen Billy Dee as Lando from Start Wars. If that's the case, like it kinda was for me, this is worth watching just to add more of him to your film experience. There is nothing else here worth your time.

Here we have an enjoyable buddy cop film, fresh from the buddy cop hey-day of the mid '80's. Robert Carradine plays Nick Berzak (dubbed "Berzerk" by the perps who know him best), a rough and tough cop who always seems to be down on his luck. His partner, Hazeltine (played by the original "Ladies Man", Billy Dee Williams), is the one who keeps him in line. A perfect combination of good cop, bad cop.

They're hot on the trail, with their gut instinct that the local mayor, DeCosta, is behind some elaborate drug smuggling connection. Naturally, no one else on the police force believes either one of them, and it becomes clear throughout that there is a "rat" among them, who may be in on the scheme.

Like I said, I found this enjoyable. It's merely a "paint-by-numbers" action film, that is salvaged by the likeable charms of Carradine and Williams, with a good supporting cast headed by Peter Graves and Valerie Bertinelli. If you are a fan of the Cannon Group and their "canon" of '80's action flicks, you should enjoy this.

Story by Gail Morgan Hickman, who also wrote the Cannon/Charles Bronson films, "MURPHY'S LAW" and "DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN". The script recieved a polish by James Belushi, to whom this film was initially intended as a starring vehicle.

* For added fun, one could develop a drinking game based on every time Carradine spouts the name "DeCosta".