Cops and Robbers

I'm Born, raised - and still live in NYC.

Seeing this movie made me (like a lot of my fellow NYC'ers) pine for those days.

It was a great place to grow up - made you 'get with it' really fast.

I'd never heard of this film (and I know Mr. Gorman!), so, when it appeared last night on TCM, I recorded it.

What a find!

The sights and sounds bring back a lot of memories, as does even the film's stock, and the look. All pitch-perfect.

The acting's superb.

Instead of the (misguided) idea of using 'star' names, the producers and the director went for ACTORS - New York actors.

ANd that makes all the difference.

The leads, Cliff Gorman and Joseph Bologna are 2 schlubs - cops, who know they're stuck ion a treadmill.

They want SOME way to get out - to 'go sit on a beach,' and enjoy their lives.

So, through a meeting by happenstance, with a well-known Mafioso figure 'Pasquale Aniello' aka Patsy O'Neill, they think they've found a way to meet their goal.

Everyone in the cast is so New York, the director - Aram Avakian - is a born New Yorker, and it really does help give this film that true feel.

You can see it in such things like the ways the cops slouch.

The little touches - such as the annoying Muzak that plays in a couple of scenes - gives the humor (this IS a comedy) a real NYC feel. It's dry, it's got a 'been there,' jaded quality that is so typical.

I join the chorus in praising this little gem.

If it shows up - WATCH IT.

... which sounds like an odd combination of genres, but not really for the 1970s.

Joseph Bologna and Cliff Gorman star as two NYC cops who grow tired of seeing slimy characters grow rich while they can barely make ends meet for their families, so they decide to try a little heist for themselves. They don't want to pull any petty jobs..they want one great caper that will provide them new lives, but the problem is they don't really know what's involved or how to plan it, so they go (in disguise) to a mob boss who they know has skirted the law easily for years. He gives them the inside info on a Wall Street company, and the benefits of stealing bonds, which he will pay handsomely for. The day they choose? The day the Apollo 11 astronauts are given a ticker tape parade just downstairs from their target.

This is a crime/comedy..so needless to say, all does not go as planned, and their biggest worry isn't getting arrested for the actual crime, but for their problem delivering 'the goods' to the mob.

This was really a fun watch and much better than I anticipated. It is flat out a New York film and in no way is it 'Hollywood-ized'. It's true to the NYC of the early 70's..lots of corruption, chaotic arrests, the noise, the little messy shops on littered streets contrasted to the order and sterile space of the financial offices. The actors are NY too, and there is a natural feel to every performance from accents to body language. It's like a darkly funny crime caper set in a time capsule, and wonderfully watchable - not your usual cop movie.

New York City cops Tom and Joe are in the mist of burn out. Why me syndrome eats at them in every way including getting in the wrong lane on the highway. They decide on a bold move to remove themselves from the relentless rat race by stealing and selling security bonds to the mob while remaining untraceable themselves.

Cops and Robbers is a very decent suspense comedy overachiever. Lack of star power works in its favor with Cliff Gorman and Joseph Bologna as the two rogue cops as non-descript everydays they ooze New York and are not required to perform acts of cool bravado to protect their careers. They are not master thieves, instead learning as they go along and it's this thin ice approach that gives the film it's well paced balance of humor and suspense.

Made during the Serpico era when the NYPD was swimming in corruption it's hard not to root for these dirty cops being squeezed on both sides. It may be a low rent sting but it does have the benefit of bluffing the audience deeper into the final moments than predictable outcomes reserved for superstars like Newman and Redford.

Disillusioned NYC cops Joe (Joseph Bologna) and Tommy (Cliff Gorman) decide their meager weekly salary isn't worth getting killed over and plan a big score. Tommy contacts Mafia kingpin Pasquale "Patsy" Aniello (John P. Ryan) after observing him being booked. In disguise, Tommy finds out that Patsy would pay handsomely for $10 million in bonds. So together the two cops plan to rob a local Wall Street firm during a big parade for the Apollo 11 astronauts.

One review here leads off with the line, "A Real Find" and I couldn't agree more. This 70s cop thriller captures both the working man's embitterment with the system and the sleazy side of NYC. Both of the leads are good in their roles and they get fine support from Ryan (has he always been middle aged?), whose lead henchman is played by Joe Spinell. Director Aram Avakian didn't make many films (5 total), but he has a great eye for realism and even a bit of the absurd like the mob using guys on ten speeds during the final chase in Central Park. Filmed entirely in New York City, this really captures the feel of the 70s station house with the green, cracking walls.

Two cops have had enough of the 'system' and decide on a high level robbery. This theme is presented in a somewhat light hearted manner. The film is an effective period piece of New York in the early Seventies. And of the work-a-day person in general.

The video (and current tv version) however...Whatever soulless bonehead was allowed to prepare this movie for video release should be thrown in a lake. The story line is still there. But apparently the plodding nature of the film prompted cutting and editing. Many scenes have been awkwardly shortened, re-mixed or completely removed. Hopefully an original copy still exists on the premium cable channels.