A Piece of the Action

Poitier shows himself to be a better actor than director. Any number of scenes are well done, but there's something wrong with the way they fit together, Juggling between plots that have little to do with one another, the film needs better transitions between the scenes. The dialog is forgettable. The movie could have used a more accomplished director.

Still, the acting is fine. Also on the plus side, we are treated to a young, almost trim James Earl Jones, recognizable,mainly by that luscious bass baritone voice, and there are some nice location shots of Chicago.

I frankly had been hoping for a better movie, but it did keep me watching right to the end.

In reviewing films involving African-Americans in chronological order for Black History Month, we're now at 1977 with A Piece of the Action. This is the third and last teaming of Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby and the fifth directorial effort of Poitier. Before I go on, I'd just like to note that this movie takes place and is filmed in Chicago, Ill., which was where I was born and lived for the first six years of my life. The music composer, Curtis Mayfield, himself was a Windy City native. Also, since I'm now a Louisiana resident, I'd like to mention that one cast member-Eric Laneuville-is from New Orleans. Okay, here's the premise: Both Cosby and Poitier, separately since they don't know each other in the beginning, have taken large amounts of money from the bank and the mob, respectively. James Earl Jones, as a retired police detective, blackmails them to work at a community center to avoid going to jail. I'll stop there and say while there's plenty of laughs from both of the leads and some of the characters that surround them (love the parents and relatives of Poitier's girlfriend Nikki, one of whom is played by "Good Times" Ja'net DuBois), this was also a pretty serious movie about getting ghetto kids to get honest jobs with Poitier acting like his teacher role from To Sir, With Love with good results. Also loved Cosby's flirtations with Denise Nicholas and the way she laughs at his lines and faces. Oh, and the janitor, Mr. Theodore is played by Sidney's older brother Cyril. While the film is pretty long and some scenes are short-cut with a line, this was a pretty enjoyable movie that made me a little sad that Poitier choose to concentrate on directing at the expense of his performing career for the next 11 years. When he did come back, however, he did manage to still entertain in various features and TV movies though he hasn't been in anything since 2001. If what he did then was the last of his work, then at least he has a wonderful legacy. As for Dr. Cosby, his peak of success was to come with "The Cosby Show" which was one of the last enjoyable family sitcoms to come on network TV. For anyone wanting to see Poitier and Cosby as a team however, Uptown Saturday Night, Let's Do It Again, and A Piece of the Action provide plenty of enjoyment for fans of both.

This is a funny movie! I first saw this film when I was 12 years old. This had to be Sheryl Lee Ralph's break out role...she's good.(I use to imitate her part down to the neck roll). Cosby and Poitier were a great duo. They were cool when cool was COOL - even when they were dancing at the end...hilarious! This film ran during the times when Blaxploitation films were in, but it's not what I would call a Blaxpolitation film...It's drama and "back in the day" comedy ...Cosby style. I really enjoyed this film and would love to see it rerun. I haven't belly laughed in a while.

Cosby and Portier team up for a third time. This time they are successful criminals that have done very well for themselves... but it didn't go unnoticed. In fact, they are blackmailed into helping underserved youth as a means of atonement.

Just like "Uptown Saturday Night" and "Let's Do it Again," this was also cleverly written. In fact this movie was probably better than the prior movies in that there was an element of positivity in it. The challenge of helping the group of young African-Americans looking for employment was a nice positive feature. They took the challenge--with little choice in the matter--and were very creative in motivating the youth towards something different and better than what they were upon. This movie was as inspiring as it was fun, plus you get to see a young, sassy Sheryl Lee Ralph.

I've seen this film numerous times over the years. Most recently I introduced it to a new generation while removing my enamor for Poitier and Cosby and attempting to see it with a more critical eye. Even in purposely trying to criticize the film the best I could come up with is the Detective played by James Earl Jones makes Peter Falk's Columbo look like a sophomore. I never noticed it previously, but the recently retired cop character is observed looking at an empty safe in one scene and broken handcuffs in another, then meracuously he is able to deduce that our two favorite cons are responsible. Not only this, he is able to tell which one did which crime and exactly how. There is probably something that says that directors are allowed to bypass supplemental story details and cut to the chase. Now, having said this I return to my premise that this movie has so much heart, soul, and in comparison to many of today's silly comedies that seem to think that character development is not a requirement, it makes sense. The viewer actually gets a feel for the various personalities. Poitier is forever the straight man, humor deriving from his serious approach and competency amongst the unruly teens. Audiences can cheer and marvel at his ability to reach them. This is in contrast to the Ms. Thomas character who has a good heart but fails at getting through. Ms. Nichols plays a principal who is both beautiful and slick enough in the tongue to keep her enrollees at bay. Rather than gawdy scenes that provide momentary laughs through silliness, A Piece of the Action is a treasure in that it has numerous people interactions (Heart and Soul) that can be talked about for many years to come. For example, the young group I showed it to were able to pinpoint such scenes as "Tearful Testimony about little Timmy", "A Kick in the Butt for Something for Nothing",and "Barbara's Mad" as the easy favorites. While Cosby is naturally comical, his wooing of Nichols is more romantic. Consequently,the three favorite scenes by this poll do not involve Cosby, but rather Poitier and the young job seekers. This film is an integral part of my Black Film Presentations and I look forward to introducing to even more people.