I shudder to think where this film would be without Curtis Mayfield. Not only does his seductive "Pusher Man" power the single best sequence in the movie, the cocaine purchase and use montage, but many scenes seem designed simply as background upon which to project Mayfield's fantastic soul/blues score, like when Priest is hanging in his apartment or meeting with anonymous coke heads at restaurants but we don't hear their conversation, only the rhythms of Mayfield's urban soul. Had the Academy not been composed in the early 70s of old, white poopheads (it's a LITTLE better now) Mayfield would at the very least have picked up an Oscar nomination. Certainly the non musical parts of this Blaxploitation pic feel kinda tired. Not only is the story that hoariest of chestnuts, the crook who wants to go straight but must make ONE LAST SCORE, but the dialogue is talky even by non action movie standards with endless, repetitive riffs on how we should pity the poor coke dealer who's been forced into his life of crime by Whitey and he can't do anything else that would give his life meaning yadda yadda and even more yadda from scenarist. Philip Fenty till you wanna scream at Priest and Scatter and Eddie to "Shut the ****up, man, and deal the damn stuff already!" As for Gordon Parks' direction you can tell he's trying to keep things from bogging down (i.e. The aforesaid montage) but he keeps getting blocked by Fenty's chatterbox of a screenplay. As for the acting, it's ok. Ron O'Neil tends to the less is more school of thespianism which is usually a wise decision, as it proves to be here, and Carl Lee is solid as O' Neil's treacherous partner. Conversely, Julius Harris chews the scenery as Scatter and Sheilah Frazier is a pretty cypher. Give it a generous B minus for the genius of Curtis M.
