Wolff rating: MOSTLY HARMLESS
Plot summary: Drunk, stupid cop is sent to collect a ``nothing witness for a nothing trial'' and bring her back to Phoenix, but some, um, mob guys or somebody doesn't want them to make it.
Biased, pithy comments: This is the first movie sponsored by the makers of the squib. OK, maybe not, but it sure seemed like the goal of the film was to use as many blanks as possible. I suppose if you believe that the Vegas cops would unload \$90,000 worth of ammunition with no real provocation into a house where a suspected hostage was being held by kidnappers, or that Phoenix cops would form a ring around someone and open fire with rifles and not hit each other, or that Sondra Locke has an iota of talent, you'd find this movie fun. You'd also have to have never seen a cop movie before, since the labels for ``corrupt cop'' and ``soon-to-die cop'' might as well be sewn to the supporting actors' costumes. As it is, it's a disappointing waste of Eastwood's talent (or at least talent he'd find later), and so painfully implausible it's hard to sit through without shouting, loudly, back that the screen. My personal favorite comes near the end when someone is shot at close range with a .44 Magnum and the bullet fails to hit the person behind him as well; boy, that guy must be extra-dense. Sheesh.
Other Notes: Well, all right, Locke won best support actress in 1968, but she stank in this film.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince.
Directed by: Clint Eastwood