Les casseurs de gang

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.

Peter Hyams' debut movie is a forgotten movie jewel from 1973. It's a typical early seventies cop and action thriller about two police officers (Elliott Gould and Robert Blake) hunting a mafia boss and finding out that the villain is co-operating with police officials.

Blake and Gould (who is incredibly "groovy" looking) are giving fine performances in this dirty little picture. They are doing raids in whore houses and gay bars, they are beaten up by gangsters and often use their guns to get what they want. Their characters are not far away from those of Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider in "French Connection" which has clearly influenced the settings, tempo and plot of this movie.

Some high points of "Busting" next to the main actors are the funky, Lalo-Schifrin-style sound track and a big showdown between the cops and a bunch of gangsters in a shopping mall battered with people. You can alos find those certain hints of conspiracies and paranoia all over this movie that became benchmarks for later Peter Hyams films such as "Capricorn One", "Outland", or "Star Chamber". Watch this incredible seventies movie, you won't regret it!

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.

This was Peter Hyams directorial debut and he does show some of the elements that would later make him a very good filmmaker. Elliott Gould and Robert Blake play two vice cops who are tired of they're job until they try and bust a hooker (Cornelia Sharpe) and are told that she has connections with a local mob boss (Allen Garfield) and because of that she won't be prosecuted. So then they decide to check him and his operations out. What I think hurts the film is that its so predictable and its just another cop film from the seventies. Nothing that special. Gould and Blake use the usual cop banter when they talk and then there is the obligatory scene with Gould in his rundown cheap apartment. Every cop film has this scene. Of course the Sgt in charge of them keeps telling them both he's heard complaints about them and you have to have at least one car chase. There is one impressive scene and its where they chase three bad guys out of a building and into a supermarket. Its done in one continuous shot and its accompanied by an effective piece of music. Its a very well done scene and very well choreographed. The same music is heard during the ambulance chase scene. Football player Carl Eller has a scene where he beats up Gould and how about Blake calling Garfield "Spanky"! Hyams would later direct better films than this and while this film does have some decent moments (Like Gould on the stand!) its still not up to par with a lot of the cop films of the seventies.

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