A Piece of the Action

Cosby and Portier team up for a third time. This time they are successful criminals that have done very well for themselves... but it didn't go unnoticed. In fact, they are blackmailed into helping underserved youth as a means of atonement.

Just like "Uptown Saturday Night" and "Let's Do it Again," this was also cleverly written. In fact this movie was probably better than the prior movies in that there was an element of positivity in it. The challenge of helping the group of young African-Americans looking for employment was a nice positive feature. They took the challenge--with little choice in the matter--and were very creative in motivating the youth towards something different and better than what they were upon. This movie was as inspiring as it was fun, plus you get to see a young, sassy Sheryl Lee Ralph.

Poitier shows himself to be a better actor than director. Any number of scenes are well done, but there's something wrong with the way they fit together, Juggling between plots that have little to do with one another, the film needs better transitions between the scenes. The dialog is forgettable. The movie could have used a more accomplished director.

Still, the acting is fine. Also on the plus side, we are treated to a young, almost trim James Earl Jones, recognizable,mainly by that luscious bass baritone voice, and there are some nice location shots of Chicago.

I frankly had been hoping for a better movie, but it did keep me watching right to the end.

The third, and more serious, of the 1970's Bill Cosby/Sidney Poitier films. This time, Cosby is a thief and Poitier a con artist who are blackmailed into helping a community center. They have three weeks to take a group of scared and angry kids and place them in jobs, and help them find the confidence to keep them. Meanwhile, they try to find the identity of their blackmailer.

Cosby and Poitier are first rate, as are the supporting cast. Denise Nicolas is back as the administrator of the community center and James Earl Jones joins in the fun, as well. The young actors are good and many would go on to careers in television and movies.

There are plenty of laughs, but this is a bit more serious. The kids are all from poor neighborhoods and are frightened about entering the job market. They also carry deep seated anger over the conditions of their lives. They use hostility and cynicism to protect themselves. Poitier spends his time trying to build confidence in the kids and show them how work with people to improve their lives, if only to feed their families, without help from the government or charities. Slowly. the kids respond to his tough message and begin to grow.

Cosby tries to leave behind his past as a ladies man and build a relationship with Nicholas. He also snoops around to find their blackmailer.

This is a film with a message, but it doesn't hit you over the head with it. The comedy and drama work hand-in-hand. Definitely worth a look.

It was a pretty old school film. Most young adults wouldn't want to watch an old 70's film but this one's got some flavor for ya.The actors did a very good job. The cast was very well put together and the writing was great. I believe that putting Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier on the same screen was one of the best ideas Holly wood ever had. While the movie was serious a lot of the times it was funny as well. It gave me a chance to see some of my favorite actors and actresses from some of my favorite shows in their earlier years and stages of the screen.This movie was loaded with fun, laughs, action and drama. Action and drama, that's my kind of movie !

This film is the third and final installment of the fine collaboration between Poitier and Cosby. Unfourtuately,it suffers from the first two films being great comedies of their time, so comparison is inevitable. The movie fails because they've taken our two players out of their working class element and portrays one as a sophisticatated con man and the other as a high class thief. It also never explains how Police detective James Earl Jones'discovers them as either.Where the film works is with Poitier's interaction with the troubled youth in the classroom sequences. Some good young actors are on display here and Poitier seems right at home reminiscent of "to sir with love".But once again then the film regresses back to the caper portion of the film which is as bland as bleach. And Cosby, who was the comic catalyst in the previous films was nothing more than a shell of his former form. The films message is mostly positive, but it terms of big laughs. It falls short.