Ballbuster

My review was written in June 1990 after watching the film on Arena video cassette.

Amateurish direction sinks "Ballbuster", a private eye film made in Indianapolis that went direct-to-video in the U. S. A.

Ivan Rogers is an ex-cop nicknamed Ballbuster; he's hired by Bonnie Paine to find out if her neighbor (W. Randolph Galvin) is really a murderer.

As the female cast tries to seduce (sometimes successfully) Roberts, film soon disintegrates into awkwardly staged action scenes that resemble a home movie. Rogers retains his sang froid mien but can't save this one. Ending is strictly arbitrary.

A young woman believes she witnesses a murder by crime lord Plato (W. Randolph Galvin). But when the police won't help her she hires Roosevelt "Ballbuster" Prophet (Ivan Rogers), a cop turned private eye who...wait for it...doesn't play by the rules (he actually says this line during the film). This was the third starring vehicle for Rogers and I assume he again financed it. It was again shot in his native Indiana, but this time he is under writer-director Eddie Beverly Jr., who films things a lot flatter than Crazed Cop. Now I'm not dumb (despite the fact I willingly chose to watch a movie called Ballbuster), but the plot here had me confused as hell. You are given the main plot in small slivers and the puzzle is missing a few pieces. At one point you think everything has been resolved by the 66 minute mark, but then the film introduces some backwoods militia types who heretofore have never been mentioned. This gives them an excuse to have Rogers run around condemned houses for about 20 minutes before they blow them up. Perhaps the best joy can be derived from two earlier shootouts where Ballbuster and his opponents are in close quarters and everyone misses. As my buddy Tom told me years ago, at one point he ducks behind a flimsy chair for cover. These moments are compounded later when a baddie is running down Ballbuster's resume and says he is an expert marksman. Could have fooled me! I'm just glad I finished it and got it out of my DVD player. Heaven knows I don't want to die during the night and have my family find Ballbuster in the DVD player. Tom would understand, normal society wouldn't be as forgiving.

When your lead character's name is Roosevelt "Ballbuster" Prophet, you know you're in trouble. A much more appropriate name for the lamest Private Dick ever would be "Bulletproof", since no one can hit him, even from five feet away...in the same room...with a double barrel shotgun! The expert marksman holding the shotgun is none other than Eddie Beverly Jr., our beloved director. (NOTE: The gun makes a sound yet no shots are fired. This happens twice.) Or perhaps an even better nickname would be Roosevelt "Bitchslap" Prophet, since this appears to be his favorite move. Watch that backhand, boys! Since the budget was obviously no issue, I won't make it one here, but they could've at least gave the various guns used in the film different sound effects. Feelin' like a bad action movie that'll have you pleading for a HUNTER re-run, than BALLBUSTER is for you!