{"id":1204,"date":"2009-06-11T14:45:09","date_gmt":"2009-06-11T20:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allouttabubblegum.com\/main\/?p=1204"},"modified":"2009-06-11T14:45:09","modified_gmt":"2009-06-11T20:45:09","slug":"hickey-boggs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/hickey-boggs\/","title":{"rendered":"Hickey & Boggs are The Ambiguously Apathetic Duo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

[THE CHALK-OUTLINE]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Hickey & Boggs (1972): Breakdown by Kain424<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Two Dicks try to solve a money-changing case, upgrade their arsenal, and get over their failed relationships with women.\u00a0 And down as many hotdogs as a buddy-cop film will allow.<\/p>\n

[THE EXECUTION]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

It’s hard to rate this film well, considering that there is so little action or even likable characters.\u00a0 The two protagonists are down-on-their-luck private detectives who couldn’t care less if the world burned, so long as they make a profit.\u00a0 However, this seems to be the point.\u00a0 They aren’t supposed to be likable, or even redeemable.\u00a0 This is post-war noir<\/em>, with no jingoism attached.\u00a0 They are worthless, tired, boozing losers who can’t even shoot straight.<\/p>\n

This is a very dark film, filmed in bright, sunlit exteriors either for ironic effect or for budgetary reasons.\u00a0 I can’t say this film is a failure, as I think it wants to be downbeat.\u00a0 The problem is, it just isn’t as entertaining as it is interesting.<\/p>\n

And it’s an interesting idea, to be sure, but I can’t help but call back to Dirty Harry<\/strong><\/a>, who even at his most despicable, still manages to awe with his smirking coolness.\u00a0 This film may have all but invented the Buddy-Cop genre, but it’s only Walter Hill’s writing and the occasional action beat that keeps this one from melting the viewer into a state of complete and utter boredom. And it comes close.<\/p>\n

Still, it’s cool to see Bill Cosby as a hardcore P.I.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Also, H&B<\/strong> showcases some early work by Ed Lauter and a young James Woods.\u00a0 That alone was worth the price.<\/p>\n

[HOW BAD-ASS ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS?]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"culp-cosby\"<\/p>\n

Robert Culp is Frank Boggs &\u00a0 Bill Cosby is Al Hickey<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As mentioned above, the idea here is not to glorify these gentlemen.\u00a0 As is such, the two main characters are shown as weak, impotent, and not even batting an eye when one of their clients turns out to be a disgusting elderly fellow who gets his kicks sunbathing nearly nude while watching children play in a park.\u00a0 These guys are not bad-ass at all.\u00a0 At least, not in the traditional sense.\u00a0 When it all finally comes down on them, the criminals engaged in firefights across the city, our two “heroes” set up and their lives nearly ruined, they aren’t the only ones who can<\/em> do anything.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 But they are the only ones who will<\/em> do anything.<\/p>\n

[THE BODY COUNT: 15]
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

A lot of the killings are simply bad guys mowing down other bad guys.\u00a0 Culp and Cosby get two kills each, and three out of four of that total almost seem like a lucky happenstance.\u00a0 It’s the 70s, so the real killers are still the criminals.\u00a0 Most are death by gunshot, but there are also a couple lethal beatdowns.\u00a0 The body count only starts stacking up near the end of the film, but I guess all that waiting had to be for something.<\/p>\n

[MOST SATISFYING DEATH]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Cosby’s Hickey, who’s ex-wife had just agreed to see him and give him another shot at their failed life together, is beaten and\/or raped and killed.\u00a0 The killer is insinuated to be the mute henchman that does most of the hard work for the main antagonist.\u00a0 After all of the other baddies have been gunned down or blown up, only Culp, Cosby and the mutie remain.<\/p>\n

Hickey and Boggs watch in stony silence as the villain attempts to pull part of a destroyed helicopter from the rubble and use it as a weapon.\u00a0 Boggs hands Hickey a loaded .44 after Hickey silently motions that his own is empty.\u00a0 As the mute killer charges, Hickey takes aim and blasts one shot through the underused lungs of his oncoming enemy.\u00a0 The result is the film’s goriest demise:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[DUDESWEAT AND MACHISMO]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The movie’s two leads have no one else but each other.\u00a0 Cosby seems content to agonize the mother of his child with his sexless presence whilst dragging Culp away from awkward lap-dances at strip clubs.\u00a0 They seem to exist in between relationships, but openly stroke their guns in front of one another, all the while chowing down on hotdogs.\u00a0 A lot of hotdogs.\u00a0 Hotdogs and chilidogs.\u00a0 I don’t know, but there might be something there.<\/p>\n

Still, it seems more like the two guys enjoy fucking up relationships more than, well relating.\u00a0 As for the film’s scenery, well remember that guy who likes to sunbathe in front of kids?\u00a0 Here you go:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[EXPLOITATION AND MISOGYNY]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Women, it seems, can’t stand our protagonists.\u00a0 In Hickey & Boggs<\/strong>, the fairer of the sexes is always shown in a negative light, so it’s no wonder that the men can’t stand them either.\u00a0 Women are always seen here either yelling and scolding men, crying, or as exotic dancers, laughing in the face of cuckholded men.<\/p>\n

It’s an evil, dark, twisted place, this one.<\/p>\n

[EPIC MOMENT AND BEST ONE-LINER]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The epic moment comes at the end of the film, not as a rush, but as a whimper of despair.\u00a0 A helicopter shot down, money-launderers shot dead with a dozen or so corpses about.\u00a0 Cosby, who looks around and notices the bleak atmosphere and stunning silence, says , “Nobody came…Nobody Cares.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best line is also the the dark joke of the film.\u00a0 Frank Boggs keeps asking, intermittently, what this case is all about, to which Al Hickey keeps telling the slightly more idealistic Frank that it’s not about anything.\u00a0 At the end of the movie, after Al has noticed that no one cares about the small war that has just been waged on the beach property, he looks at Frank and says, “It’s still not about anything.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frank just sighs and grabs up what he wants from the ruined cars nearby.<\/p>\n

“Yeah.\u00a0 You told me.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

[THE MORAL OF THE STORY]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

It’s not about anything.<\/p>\n

[THE CHECKLIST: 14 outta 25]<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

[\u00a0 ] Athlete(s) Turned \u201cActor\u201d
\n[X] Clinging To The Outside Of A Moving Vehicle
\n[\u00a0 ] Crotch Attack
\n[\u00a0 ] Dialogue Telling Us How Bad-Ass The Main Character(s) Is\/Are
\n[\u00a0 ] Ending Featuring An Ambulance, A Blanket or A Towel
\n[\u00a0 ] Factory\/Warehouse
\n[X] Giant Explosion(s)
\n[X] Heavy Artillery
\n[\u00a0 ] Improvised Weapon(s)
\n[X] Macho Mode(s) Of Transportation
\n[X] Main Character Sports Facial Accessory(s)
\n[\u00a0 ] Manly Embrace(s)
\n[\u00a0 ] Notorious Stunt-Man Sighting
\n[\u00a0 ] Passage(s) Of Time Via Montage
\n[X] Politically Fueled Plot Point(s)
\n[X] Senseless Destruction Of Property
\n[X] Shoot Out(s) and\/or Sword Fight(s)
\n[X] Slow-Motion Finishing Move(s)\/Death(s)
\n[X] Stupid Authoritative Figure(s)
\n[X] Substance Usage and\/or Abuse
\n[\u00a0 ] Tis The Season
\n[X] Torture Sequence(s)
\n[\u00a0 ] Unnecessary Sequel
\n[X] Vehicle Chase(s)
\n[X] Vigilante Justice<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/h1>\n

At Least We Have Each Other
\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[THE CHALK-OUTLINE] Hickey & Boggs (1972): Breakdown by Kain424 Two Dicks try to solve a money-changing case, upgrade their arsenal, and get over their failed relationships with women.\u00a0 And down as many hotdogs as a buddy-cop film will allow. [THE EXECUTION] It’s hard to rate this film well, considering that there is so little action … Read moreHickey & Boggs are The Ambiguously Apathetic Duo<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1204\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}