MovieChat Forums > Hickey & Boggs (1972) Discussion > Very good film

Very good film

posted 17 years ago by h-ahmad-1
3 replies | jump to latest

Watched it today (received the video on Saturday) and I think it's one of the more unsung '70s thrillers. Bill Cosby was outstanding as the downtrodden Hickey and Culp was just as praiseworthy as his loyal partner. Just witness their scene together in the bar after Hickey's wife dies. Excellent.

Like others, I'll say the story was a bit confusing. I felt no empathy at all for Mary Jane and her husband. Michael Moriarty was good as a particularly vicious bad guy.

The film also boasted three awesome action sequences. The pulsating football stadium shootout, the car park confrontation and the explosive finale on the beach.

I read somewhere that Culp actually re-wrote Walter Hill's original script and when he saw the final product, Hill wasn't very pleased. Maybe Hill wrote some scenes that had to be deleted or put some more humour into it. Culp once said that without H&B, there'd be no 48 HRS.

They should have done a sequel to this. Maybe it could have been called just HICKEY, therefore only focussing on Bill Cosby. They could have had him as a lone troubleshooter, along the lines of The Equalizer, with Robert Culp back at the helm.

[–] Francoesque-2 17 years ago

H&B is one of the great lost films as far as DVD is concerned. Like Richard Rush's Freebie and the Bean, this just never gets an outing. I just have to wonder what could have happened had Cult done on directing - on the evidence of this masterpiece, I think we've missed out on three or four of the best action thrillers of all time.

[–] Woodyanders 17 years ago

I love this movie. The loose and sarcastic chemistry between Robert Culp and Bill Cosby is just terrific. The three action scenes are expertly done. Plus the supporting cast of familiar faces adds tremendously to the overall entertainment value of this unjustly neglected gritty noir gem.

300 bios and counting.

[–] bronzescag 16 years ago

It's a really interesting, nihilistic crime film from the 70s. I really miss this style of filmmaking, although the script is really quite pedestrian and confusing at times. The characters of Hickey & Boggs are great and I've never seen Cosby better. I think the film is poorly edited, almost rushed at times. Culp and his editor seem in a rush to end every scene without allowing for any natural pauses. It's an almost 2 hour film that can do with some breathing room, if that can be believed. As a big Walter Hill fan, it has echoes of 48 Hours in the weariness of the main characters and apathy of the assassins. Worth checking out. Playing this month on MGM HD Channel in a nice clean print.