This ambitious but uneven Boston Police action comedy struggles to be serious and superficial at the same time. Although it qualifies as one of Burt Reynolds' more respectable theatrical film releases before he scored with John Boorman's "Deliverance" and Robert Aldrich's "The Longest Yard," "Fuzz" is standard-issue stuff. Affable Burt and his co-stars conjure up a genuine sense of camaraderie that adds credibility to this above-average thriller. Yul Brynner is cast as a ruthless villain with a hearing problem, but he doesn't participate physically in the action until slightly more than an hour has elapsed in this 92 minute law & order epic. Nevertheless, he makes a memorable exit. Sexy Raquel Welch doesn't have as many scenes as she should have had. She has one hilarious scene in a sleeping bag during a stakeout in the park with Tom Skerritt. Future "Cleopatra Jones" starlet Tamara Dobson has a bit part as Brynner's girlfriend. Interestingly, Evan Hunter wrote the screenplay based Ed McBain's literary "87th Precinct" novels. McBain was Hunter's nom de plume. His screenplay moves in circles but laces the loose threads together for a surprise ending. Wait until you learn the truth about the city painters. "Zig Zag" director Richard A. Colla is imitates Robert Altman with the use of an ensemble cast and meandering plot lines and William Friedkin's gritty "French Connection" surveillance and shoot'em up scenes. In one playful scene, Carella and Meyer, garbed in nun's habits, tail a conspicuous man (Don Gordon of "Bullitt") across Boston. Composer Dave Grusin's title music is superb and embellishes the action with its bone-smacking, gut-heaving, pulsative quality of both Isaac Hayes' "Shaft" theme and Quincy Jones' "Dollars" theme. Lenser Jacques R. Marquette's on-location photography in Boston is nice since most thrillers end up on those familiar New York City streets.
"Fuzz" is a formulaic police procedural that imitates "M.A.S.H." with its multiple characters. Actually, Colla's film looks like the prototype for ABC-TV's sitcom "Barney Miller." Several scenes concern supporting actors and actresses complaining to the detectives while more important activities occur around them. An anonymous phone caller menaces the 87th Precinct with threats of assassinating city officials while a pair of predatory youth roams the streets at night intent on turning drunks into bonfires. The assassins are fodder-as-usual for this kind of cop operas, but the firebugs are just as unsavory as they were back when this film came out. When our heroes aren't dealing with the assassins and the firebugs, they are bickering with a couple of painters painting the precinct premises. Raquel Welch shows up at the precinct to serve as decoy for rapists. This doesn't keep the guys from kidding her. Boston Police Department Detective Eileen McHenry (Raquel Welch of "Bandolero!") listens patiently and grimaces as a woman complains about a flasher. The woman provides almost too many gory details about her assailant. Meanwhile, BPD Detectives Steve Carella (Burt Reynolds of "100 Rifles") and Meyer Meyer (Jack Weston) wheeze with laughter at McHenry's dilemma. She knows that they are playing a prank on her and she realizes it after the woman furnishes so many details. Finally, a group of criminals are planning to rob a liquor store. Consequently, despite the 87th's penetrating investigations, the anonymous phone caller, in reality a deaf man (Yul Brynner of "The Magnificent Seven"), neither vaunts nor tarries about killing police officials. The two youth kindle a couple of drunkards, one being Carella disguised as a rag picker. Carella is momentarily surprised when he sees how young they are before they torch him. Later, an interesting scene occurs as a surveillance technician praises an African-American detective but addresses him invoking the horrendous N-world. The cop belts him out of sight of the camera. The big shoot-out at the end is staged with finesse. Ironically, a couple of liquor store bandits stumble onto the Deaf Man and his accomplice in a police uniform and start shooting. There are some interesting touches. The wife of Detective Carella is deaf, too.
"Fuzz" is a formulaic police procedural that imitates "M.A.S.H." with its multiple characters. Actually, Colla's film looks like the prototype for ABC-TV's sitcom "Barney Miller." Several scenes concern supporting actors and actresses complaining to the detectives while more important activities occur around them. An anonymous phone caller menaces the 87th Precinct with threats of assassinating city officials while a pair of predatory youth roams the streets at night intent on turning drunks into bonfires. The assassins are fodder-as-usual for this kind of cop operas, but the firebugs are just as unsavory as they were back when this film came out. When our heroes aren't dealing with the assassins and the firebugs, they are bickering with a couple of painters painting the precinct premises. Raquel Welch shows up at the precinct to serve as decoy for rapists. This doesn't keep the guys from kidding her. Boston Police Department Detective Eileen McHenry (Raquel Welch of "Bandolero!") listens patiently and grimaces as a woman complains about a flasher. The woman provides almost too many gory details about her assailant. Meanwhile, BPD Detectives Steve Carella (Burt Reynolds of "100 Rifles") and Meyer Meyer (Jack Weston) wheeze with laughter at McHenry's dilemma. She knows that they are playing a prank on her and she realizes it after the woman furnishes so many details. Finally, a group of criminals are planning to rob a liquor store. Consequently, despite the 87th's penetrating investigations, the anonymous phone caller, in reality a deaf man (Yul Brynner of "The Magnificent Seven"), neither vaunts nor tarries about killing police officials. The two youth kindle a couple of drunkards, one being Carella disguised as a rag picker. Carella is momentarily surprised when he sees how young they are before they torch him. Later, an interesting scene occurs as a surveillance technician praises an African-American detective but addresses him invoking the horrendous N-world. The cop belts him out of sight of the camera. The big shoot-out at the end is staged with finesse. Ironically, a couple of liquor store bandits stumble onto the Deaf Man and his accomplice in a police uniform and start shooting. There are some interesting touches. The wife of Detective Carella is deaf, too.