Les casseurs de gang

Elliott Gould ("MASH", 'E/R', etc..) and Rob Blake ( "Baretta", murdering scumbag, etc..) are two vice cops whom after losing a prostitute's bust (pun intended) thanks to her knowing the right people, and geting slapped, bitten, and hair-pulled in a gay bar, decide to go after made-man Rizzo (the boss of Mother, Jugs & Speed himself, Allen Garfield). Pretty much your typical '70's cop action yarn, but the chance to see the great Sid Haig in action, even in a minor part, is always great. And seeing Fat Rolly, I'm sorry I mean Micheal Lerner, I've been watching too much Starsky & Hutch reruns, as a seedy owner of a porn shop is fun as well.

Where I saw It: Showtime Extreme

My Grade:B-

Eye Candy: Jackie (Cornelia Sharpe-breasts and Buns), unknown erotic dancer shows breasts and buns as well

Best Line: "Hey mom, hey dad, how're you? I'm fine, a fag bit my leg"- Elliott Gould

I almost got to see "Busting" in the theater. I was 9 years old and my brother was 7 and we were with our father seeing the other half of a double feature. After that ended we begged him to let us stay and see the R rated "Busting". He agreed. We only lasted five minutes. It takes about that long before the lady gets naked in the dentist's office. "Let's go". I've seen "Busting" quite a few times since then and it's one of the greatest cop movies to come out of the 1970s. Writer/director Peter Hyams (One of my favorites) does an excellent job. The camera work is terrific. The cast is top-notch with excellent performances from Elliott Gould and Robert Blake. Gould has never been better. Every time I watch "Busting" it's so good that I forget that I've seen it already.

Directed by Peter Hyams, Busting apparently inspired the television show Starsky & Hutch. It was released at a similar time as Freebie and the Bean which was commercially more successful but Busting is more tighter, coherent and cynical picture that still retains elements of its comedy.

Keneely (Elliott Gould) tall, laconic and chews gum all the time and Farrel (Robert Blake) shorter and tougher are two LA vice cops who spend most of their time arresting hookers and people in gay bars rather than than the big crime lords who they feel are being protected by their superior officers and cynical lawyers.

They decide to go all out to catch the local crime lord Rizzo (Allen Garfield) which annoys their superiors who prefer they go after the small fry.

The film has a comedic and anarchic tone but beneath the cynicism it also has a heart of two cops trying to do the right thing and not happy with just fitting up hookers and their clients.

There are thrills as well with well staged shootout sequences in a market and later in a hospital. The film is a softer and sarcastic edged version of The French Connection featuring elements of a buddy cop duo and a message that crime does pay.

I first saw this in the mid '80s and thought: 'what a stylish thriller!' It seems to have been filmed in a low-grade film stock, which has given it a grainy/soft-focus look which also adds to it's realism. Elliot Gould, who stars as one of the hard-bitten cops also appears in another Peter Hyams opus, Capricorn One. Robert Blake who plays Gould's partner, later featured in his own TV detective series called Baretta.

There are some wonderful set-pieces in the movie, the best in my opinion involving our heroes chasing some bad dudes from a seedy hotel, and through a supermarket on the streets. It's classic Cat-and-Mouse fare, as the villains take a hostage while Gould 'n' Blake have them firmly in their gunsights. This moment is ingeniously realised by Hyams' use of a wide-angled lens. There are also brilliant car chases galore to marvel at.

Anyone who is a fan of this type of gritty cop thriller with a downbeat ending, would enjoy another good example: William Friedkin's 'To Live and Die in LA' (1985) which stars C.S.I.'s William Peterson.

Talk about a movie that has aged well, despite being over four decades old. There is so much going on, and Elliot Gould and Robert Blake play off each other so well, I didn't even notice, or for that fact care, that they drive 70s "land yachts", and dress "mod". "Busting" is greatly enhanced by our two rogue vice cops constant sarcasm and wise cracking, mostly at Allen Garfield's expense. I would have to say that Gould's performance here easily equals his terrific acting in "The Silent Partner". The film is full of interesting characters, with Michael Lerner as a porno shop owner the standout. As buddy cop movies go, "Busting" is one of the best. - MERK