Bersaglio n. 1

Nothing new, but this routine action comedy (Produced by Cannon's Golan Globus) with its buddy cops angle gives it plenty of life as Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams' natural chemistry strikes up some amusing dialogue exchanges and messy situations. It's on the cheap… and it looks it, but this doesn't fault how enjoyable it happens to be. Cannon simply produces the goods; shattering action (shoot-outs -- one in drag and car / truck / air chases), a humorous script ("Old MacDonald had a shotgun"), likable good guys, scummy bad guys and a jazzy soundtrack.

Nick Berzak (known as "Berserk" on the streets) along with his partner Frank Hazeltine are two L.A narcotic detectives, where Berzak believes the mayor of the community just also happens to be a big drug dealer despite everyone including his partner thinking otherwise. Berzak would go to any lengths to prove it, but their undercover operations always seemed to be foiled as if there's a mole in the department.

Carradine plays his character with a rugged, if crazy edge (he even eats raw meat) while Williams is the opposite as the affably smooth partner (a real ladies man). However they both share a kooky sensibility and use unorthodox methods to get the job done. Some character dramas appear; Berzak's relationship with his ex-wife (Valerie Bertinelli) opens up another side, while the moments with his mother (Doris Roberts) was another comical inclusion. Barry Sattels made for the perfect slime ball. The support cast is good; Peter Graves, Mykelti Williamson, Bobby Di Cicco, Ray Girardin, Michael Goodwin and Jon Gries. Director Jack Smight visceral handling is sturdy, if at times clumsy but it moves at a comfortably steady clip and Gail Morgan Hickman's material has a real sense of irony and some running gags ("I'm just talking to myself sir").

Stock, but entertaining 80s crime hokum.

"Don't say freeze. It only pisses them off."

A typical buddy buddy cop thriller of the late '80s, heavily derivative and sadly too low budget to do much with the premise. The story involves a couple of cops (Carradine and Williams) who go on the trail of nefarious criminals and gradually uncover a minor conspiracy. Peter Graves plays the police chief. It's amiable enough in a low-to-mid budget way, with some action, but entirely forgettable with it.

Is this the pinnacle of 80s buddy cop movies? I'm a millennial, so my bases are rooted in Turner and Hooch, and Cop and a Half, then I have fond memories of catching the TV versions of Lethal Weapon.

Number One with a Bullet is an amazing hit in my nostalgia vein. You can sense that the film makers are sick of the genre, but everyone is still having a good time. You can see background characters trying to hold back their snickers as Nick smart alecks banally as Everybody Loves Raymond's mom dotes on him, and I join them as Frank the trumpet player practices on his kazoo between set pieces.

And there's loads of action. Plane vs helicopter shoot outs, dump yard car magnet dodgeball, generic explosions, and loads of ACAB negligence.

If you ever wanted to see Naked Gun played straight, check this one out.

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.

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.