La loi de Murphy

I am a great fan of Charles Bronson, and this is indeed a great action film with plenty of violence in the same vein as the Death Wish series. You are not bored for one minute, as there's always so much going on. And I just love Bronson's way of dealing with tricky situations. The only thing that frightened me was the lady villain. Her face, her dialogues, her look were really FRIGHTENING. They certainly found the actress for the job. No doubt they wouldn't make films like that today since we are now living under the yoke of political correctness ! All the more reason to buy the dvd to get a breath of fresh air and personal liberty !

Our group watched this on valentine's day and I can tell you that it was a wonderful idea. We ended up writing down as many of those excellent 80's insults as possible, and our list ended up filling an entire page. You just don't see movies anymore where a major character says things like "I must have boogers for brains," or "eat it toe jam," let alone calls Bronson a "Snot Licking Donkey Fart" or a "Camel Crotch." We agonized over the seething sexual subtext throughout the film, wondering "would they or wouldn't they?" For maximum fun, appoint someone to yell "BRONSONED!!!!" whenever a heaping helping of snarling .44 Magnum super-justice appears imminent.

After the ridiculous yet entertaining 'Death Wish 3,' Charles Bronson and his fans needed to relax for a while. Fortunately enough, Bronson and director J. Lee Thompson came out in 1986 with the actioner/dark comedy 'Murphy's Law,' whose texture is almost the complete opposite of DW3. While still carrying its fair share of sex, violence, and overall bad taste, 'Murphy's Law' is a light-hearted film by comparison and makes neat changes to Bronson's on-screen persona.

In a workmanlike script by Gail Morgan Hickman (of TV's 'The Equalizer'), Bronson reprises his earlier cop roles as Jack Murphy, a Los Angeles detective who is going to pieces after breaking up with his sex-starved wife. Murphy is a heavy drinker who struggles to get out of bed in the morning; when he does manage to rise, he argues with other detectives on the force and nags his ex (Angel Topkins), who has begun stripping at a local nightclub.

To fulfill Murphy's Law - "if anything can go wrong, it will" - the justice system has released Joan Freeman (Carrie Snodgress), a psychopath whom Murphy arrested for murder ten years before. Dead-set on revenge, Freeman returns to knock off everyone linked to her case, including Murphy and his acquaintances. Sure enough, Murphy is collared for the death of his ex-wife and finds himself in lockup with Arabella McGee (Kathleen Wilhoite), a foul-mouthed young woman whom he just arrested for driving off with his car. Handcuffed to one another, he manages to take McGee hostage and escape from jail. The bulk of 'Murphy's Law' follows Murphy and McGee in their search for the real killer, ticking off an already-livid mob boss (Richard Romanus) in the process.

Like other Bronson films from the 80s, 'Murphy's Law' doesn't boast Oscar-worthy scriptwriting, acting, or technical work. The film is geared towards an average Bronson connoisseur, with Charles quietly sweeping out the trash. But 'Murphy's Law' isn't without heart: Bronson looks very human, with a healthy amount of vulnerability. In what other 80s film does Bronson get arrested, bleed, pass out, have a concussion, make a friend, and even sit down for a sandwich?

Bronson and Kathleen Wilhoite don't have "chemistry" per se, but to watch an odd friendship develop between Murphy and McGee is entertaining in itself. Although Wilhoite is given a ridiculous number of swear words to toss around ("jock itch" and "camel crotch" are two good ones), McGee still comes off as lovable, a girl you'd actually love to hang around and steal cars with. Carrie Snodgress balances the humor of Murphy and McGee with an intense performance as the killer. The supporting cast, including Robert F. Lyons, Bill Henderson, and Richard Romanus, is quite good, although Romanus is guilty of overacting in certain scenes as mob head Frank Vincenzo.

Compared to J. Lee Thompson's other films of the decade, 'Murphy's Law' is above average technically. The film was decently edited by his son Peter and Charles Simmons (although you should watch Vincenzo's robe during the hooker scene) and crisp cinematography was supplied by Alex Phillips Jr., another Thompson mainstay. Of disappointing quality is the music by Marc Donahue and Valentine McCallum, which is synthesized and very repetitive. Wilhoite sings the more pleasing end theme.

Highly recommended for action fans and a must for Bronson collectors, 'Murphy's Law' is available on DVD from MGM Home Entertainment in dual widescreen and standard format with three-language subtitles. To my surprise, the digital transfer is excellent, showing crystal-clear visuals and almost no grain. Murphy's theatrical trailer is included as an extra, which looks shopworn and has Bronson saying "Don't -mess- with Jack Murphy." Fill in the blank yourself.

After 'Murphy's Law,' Bronson and Thompson hit a dry spell with 'Death Wish 4' and 'Messenger of Death.' They ended their collaboration in 1989 with the engaging 'Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects,' Thompson's last film as a director. Bronson's wife Jill Ireland, incidentally, co-produced 'Murphy' with Pancho Kohner.

*** out of 4

I found this Charles Bronson/J. Lee Thompson film combo to be not so bad after all. Bronson plays tough as nails detective/cop Jack Murphy who lost his wife and now has a big drinking problem. Along the way through his travels he runs into a very mouthy young lady who eventually becomes friendly with him. The action is all there along with some rare Bronson dark-humor as well. It seems as though somebody is getting revenge on Bronson and his cronies for an unfortunate incident that had happened years prior. Very well done movie, I thought at times it was a little cheesy (I keep forgetting that this flick was from 1986). Not bad at all. Definitely a rating or two (or three) higher than Director Thompson and Bronsons next film combo 'Death Wish 4 : The Crackdown'. It is worth a viewing. 7 out of 10 stars will definitely do.

Mostly routine, but agreeably trashy goodness from the Charles Bronson-J. Lee Thompson- Cannon Group-1980s assembly line. The almighty Bronson plays Jack Murphy, a detective whose motto is simple: "Don't *beep* with Jack Murphy." But of course, somebody does: a vindictive, psychotic woman named Joan Freeman (Carrie Snodgress), who goes about murdering people who Jack knows and framing him for the crimes. However, Jack seizes upon an opportunity, breaking out of prison while handcuffed (shades of "The Defiant Ones") to a foul mouthed car thief, Arabella McGee (scene stealing Kathleen Wilhoite).

With this team, you expect some pretty straightforward, and effectively sleazy, entertainment. It's fairly violent as well as exploitative (ever delectable Angel Tompkins, as Jacks' ex-wife Jan, plays a stripper and shows off some of the goods). Gail Morgan Hickmans' story is diverting, throwing in a subplot involving a mobster named Frank Vincenzo (Richard Romanus) and creating a reasonable body count.

What gives this otherwise formulaic scenario a shot in the arm is the give and take between Bronson and the sexy, husky voiced Wilhoite. She's constantly firing off insults at him. While they were much more profane in the original script, Wilhoites' one-liners are still ridiculously funny. And you can see that Bronson is having some fun with this premise. It's not often that he had a full blown sidekick in one of his vehicles.

Other familiar faces that turn up include Robert F. Lyons, Bill Henderson, James Luisi, Janet MacLachlan, and Lawrence Tierney. It is somewhat novel that our vengeance crazed villain is female, and Snodgress is just fine as the kind of psycho who's *well aware* that they're a psycho.

Capped off by a finale that offers up some fairly good suspense, and a typically amusing Bronson quip.

Wilhoite gets an "introducing" credit, although she'd actually made her film debut in "Private School" three years previous. She also belts out the theme song over the end credits.

Seven out of 10.