Mother, Jugs & Speed

The ads for this 1976 comedy described the film as "'MASH' on wheels" and that is the perfect description. It follows the exploits of paramedics in Los Angeles and the trouble they get into with the police, rival ambulance services, and each other. The film is very funny at times and deadly serious as traces of black comedy seep thru.

Bill Cosby heads the cast as Mother and gives, I believe, his best performance on the big screen. He's hip and funny. By no means is this film a classic but it is worth watching, especially if you're in a goofy mood. And Raquel Welch ain't bad to look at either.

'Mother' chronicles the adventures of a group of privatized ambulance drivers (in 1976?) working for the Fishbine Ambulance company. You get the usual assortment of stiffs for the mid-70s; the new guy, Speed (Harvey Keitel), the hot chick, Jugs (Raquel Welch), the lecherous loser, Murdoch (Larry Hagman), the overbearing boss, Fishbine (Allen Garfield), the nerdy effete guy, Bliss (Allan Warnick), and your resident smart-ass, Mother (Bill Cosby). Now, these days, you don't think of Bill Cosby when you think of smart-ass, but this was almost thirty years ago. Things were different.

'Mother' is a product of its time, very 70s, with a rant about inflation and how bad the economy is; Mother's partner Leroy (a very young Bruce Davison) gets high all the time, and there's a flap later on when Jugs earns her EMT certificate and wants to ride in the ambulance with the guys. Such a thing wouldn't even bat an eye now, but was an issue back then. But 'Mother' is also amusing. Some of the comedy is obvious – one extremely obese black woman is too heavy to carry and her gurney slips from their grip, taking a joyride down a hilly street. But a lot of it is surprisingly sharp, thanks mostly to Cosby's excellent timing and deadpan delivery. Mother has a one-liner for every situation, and, surprise, most of them are really funny.

While the rest of the cast is fine – Keitel portrays a slightly nicer version of the cool, collected guy he often plays, Welch is pleasant but her character isn't particularly deep, and Garfield is good as a sort of proto-Louie DePalma – the movie is really Cosby's show. From bribing the cops to drinking beer on the job, from ‘buzzing' the nuns with his siren to eating his hamburgers with peanut butter, onions, and mayonnaise on them, Mother is a real character in every good sense of the word. While the film does not always excel and in some places falls sort of flat, Cosby is always spot on here, and it's worth sitting through some of the slower stretches for him alone.

I was thinking as I was watching this film that it would be prime fodder for a remake. Bernie Mac would ace the Cosby role, you could find any number of women to play Jugs (I suggest Heather Graham), and it would be almost painfully easy to update the 70s-isms into modern day slang/events. You could even be topical and switch Bliss from metrosexual to full-out gay (which is implied but never said in the film anyway). In looking up this film on the IMDB, however, I discovered someone already did try to make this into a TV show, so apparently I wasn't the first one who thought this had potential (though TV is the wrong venue; much of the film's humor is ribald, and you sure as hell couldn't call any woman on TV ‘Jugs'). 'Mother' is an enjoyable film, not much more than your average summer filler, but still able to elicit several good chuckles almost thirty years later. It's certainly worth it to see Cosby play the bad boy with aplomb.

Black comedy, about a ragtag ambulance company out of Los Angeles battling their competitors while picking up an eclectic group of needy passengers, could best be described as schizophrenic (quirky bordering on outrageous). It manages to match its silly, yet surprisingly catchy, title with a well-written script and an excellent cast. Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch and Harvey Keitel make up an easy starring trio (another surprise), and Welch in particular seems extremely comfortable in the chaotic surroundings. Supporting players Allen Garfield, Valerie Curtin and Dick Butkis as the Texan are all fun, though there's perhaps too much of live-wire Larry Hagman (having a permanent meltdown). Peter Yates directed, and while he's quick on his feet he's not always adept at managing the viewer's responses through the morass; these entangled vignettes needed a bit more subtlety and class. Still, there are big laughs in the picture, a few tender moments, not to mention Los Angeles looking bright-and-shiny. I saw this in the theater in 1976, and the audience--probably having expected a full-on slapstick comedy--filed out looking bewildered. The movie wasn't ahead of its time ("MASH" prepared us for this messy mix of dark laughs), but it seems to play better today than it did upon its release. Remade as a TV-movie in 1978 (with an extra 'g' in Jugs). **1/2 from ****

The film is more of a drama/slice of life mixed in with some black comedy. It's a strange mish-mash of different things and the tone doesn't match the bombastic disco song "dance" with which the film opens. I'm glad I finally had a chance to watch it (it was a film advertised during a youtube clip of old kbhk channel footage). Anyhow...worth a watch. I would try to avoid reading the primary review (well-written as it is) up top as it kind of summarizes all the main character plot beats and would make it less interesting to see.

Good gritty and realistic dark comedy about mid 1970's street culture told thru the daily adventures of a private Ambulance company.Great cast although the acting was lackluster.The directing, cinematography,script and story was average although the screenplay was good.The editing here was bad and made the movie look very cheaply done.To see Cosby portray a not so gentlemanly characer was entertaining if one is fammiliar with the actor.Also,Raquel Welch worshpers will truly enjoy her 30 something sex appeal here as well.Expect realistic portrayals with less than usual Holywood toning down formulas.If one is into that kind of 1970's street movie style mixed with some dark comedy,you will love this one.A cult masterpiece for it's genre.......