Genre Guesstimation – Badge 373 (1973)

The idea behind this feature (Genre Guesstimation) is for me to watch a bunch of new movies (or ones that I haven’t seen many times) from the chosen monthly GG genre in order to expand my knowledge of movies within that particular genre.

This month’s genre has been chosen by Paul of Silver Screen Classics and we will be reviewing our favorite New York Films of the 70’s.

Please get me your submissions by the 25th of Jun by sending them to NYC70spaul@movierob.net

Try to think out of the box! Great choice Paul!

Let’s see if I felt that this movie would be worthy of being in the company of my others favorite movies in the genre of New York Films of the 70’s….

“Departmental trial? Who are you kidding? You know cops are always guilty until proven innocent.” – Eddie Ryan

Number of Times Seen – 1 (7 Jun 2020)

Brief Synopsis – A NYPD detectove is suspended after causing the death of a Puerto Rican gang member and then tries to find the killer of his ex partner on his own.

My Take on it – Here is yet another film that I never knew about before coming across it in my quest to find films for this months genre.

Love the way that the film shows how a no nonsense detective can do things in order to get his job done.

The story is gripping form start to finish and is filled with lots of surprises along the way.

The story itself is slightly missing something that would have helped propel it to something more powerful tho.

Robert Duvall is great in the lead role and eds up portraying this character in a way that one probably wouldn’t expect which enhances things a bit.

The story is able to show how much tension and corruption there can be during that time in New York City which could cause so many more problems for those trying to uphold the law.

This is a film that doesn’t stray away from violence and there are some great twists, turns and surprises along the way that help make it more interesting and mysterious to watch unfold.

Unfortunately tho, it still manages to miss its mark while attempting to create something even more powerful along the way.

Bottom Line – Gripping film that shows how no nonsense a detective can be, but the story is still missing something that would make things even more powerful. Duvall is great in the lead because of the way that he plays this character in a way that one doesn’t necessary expect. The film shows how the tension and corruption of the area and of the time could help makes things very problematic. The story doesn’t skimp on the violence and intensity of certain scenes and is able to deliver something that’s quite good even if it misses its mark in creating something even more powerful. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The bus chase sequence at night took almost two weeks to film. (From IMDB)

Genre Grandeur Worthy? – Not quite. Duvall is great here, but the story and characters aern’t powerful enough.

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)