MikeMagi This is a really lousy movie. Somewhere buried in endless blather about life, love and hopping the next plane for Rome, there's a murder mystery involving a young girl whose body turns up on a strip of beach. The case is handled by Burt Reynolds, a Los Angeles detective whose amorata is French prostitute Catherine Deneuve. Most of his time is spent yakking with the victim's father, compulsive redneck Ben Johnson. Involved somehow is Eddie Albert as a Los Angeles politico who has arranged for a union headquarters in Ohio to be blown up for no discernible reason. By the time the talkathon ends, much of the cast has been rubbed out, largely to satisfy the production code of 1975. Yes, Deneuve is gorgeous and Reynolds wanders through the gabfest as if it actually made sense. But the real mystery here is how Steve Shagan's script went before the cameras without a slew of rewrites.

amosduncan_2000 Coming off their career high hit "The Longest Yard" Reynolds and Aldrich tried a highly stylized LA thriller. That was all She wrote for Roburt" productions. Even at a very young age I took a look at the reviews this film got and wassurprised how easy the critics went on it. Mostly it was ignored and allowed to die. Aldrich has done good work ("Flight of The Phenix" is among my favorite movies) but he is so out of his element trying to be stylish here. His efforts come off asa tasteless slob trying to be classy. Steve Shagen was slightly hot at the time, with his turgid "Save The Tiger" beingtaken seriously in some quarters. But Aldrich should have known this script neededsome serious work or better yet, should have been thrown out all together. The Dirty Harry/Death Wish element ( A double murderer somehow is let outout of jail for good behavior, you know, just like real life) is perhaps the worstbit of audience pandering. Then there is a consenting adults rape that probably wouldn't go over today. Visually ugly, terribly edited ( a sign of desperation and bad audience testing, the film still has a train wreck sort of quality, we all becomebad cinema lookie lous. A great partnership of Burt and Bob was notto be. Also, when something this cynical is this unconvincing, the resultis oddly upbeat.

cultfilmfreaksdotcom One of those "stick with it" kind of movies. After the success of the universally entertaining THE LONGEST YARD, director Robert Aldrich reteams with Burt Reynolds in a steamy/gritty cop melodrama that takes a little while to get going.Reynolds is Phil Gaines, a bitter, worldweary detective who, living with a high priced prostitute, doesn't live the typical law and order existence. After the dead body of a drugged young girl turns up on the beach, Gaines and his partner, Paul Winfield's Belgrave, write it off as suicide. But a stubborn, unglued war veteran father, played with a frantic energy by Ben Johnson as Marty, can't let go.Overlong scenes where Burt and hooker girlfriend Nicole – played by Catherine Deneuve – involved in tedious bouts of pillow talk (especially during the first ten minutes) distract from the real stuff: Gaines and Belgrave forced to take the investigation seriously as Marty (the father) sneaks around a local mob-run strip club for answers, stalking a seedy high profile lawyer played by YARD villain Eddie Albert.Essential action scenes are thrown in whenever necessary, and yet beneath the surface is character-study of a cop discovering the truth of a victim who, having been involved in stripping and hardcore porn, wasn't very innocent to begin with. Conversations where Reynolds and Winfield discuss the validity of the case and the futility of life, while delving into pop culture movies and music, are the highlight.A clean-shaven Reynolds, a few years shy of the signature mustache and mainstream stardom, is fitfully forlorn as a man lost in the Film Noir haze, and director Robert Aldrich makes even the slower parts interesting except those conversations with Deneuve: As a love interest, she's just not interesting.And despite a tacked-on tragic finale, this cop/melodrama feels more like reading than watching – a good thing provided you won't be able to put this down once it picks up.

jcohen1 Alternate and original title (all comments from 28 year old memory) City of Angels. I saw this movie while on 3-4 hour break from college classes in lower Manhattan. Burt plays Burt. His character is a little too worldly to be believable, yet I love this picture. Deneuve is hot and Burt daydreams about retiring to Italy with her where they can open a liquor store. Burt keeps saying "Bingo" every few minutes. He had to be cheating. Seriously, the film is serious product placement for Bushmill's Irish Whiskey. After watching the flick I went out and got bombed on the stuff. Wound up Millstoned for 28 years. Recently got released. Has Burt made a good movie since I was in?