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Busting (1974) - Birth of the Buddy Cop?
Busting - Original Poster
Writer/Director: Peter Hyams
Starring: Elliott Gould, Robert Blake, Sid Haig, Allen Garfield, Michael Lerner, Cornelia Sharpe, William Sylvester, Antonio Fargas
A Black & White still from Busting with Robert Blake and Elliott Gould
Sketching the action comedy template for buddy cop films,Writer/Director Peter Hyams made his feature film debut with Busting. To call it a pioneering work or groundbreaking is far to higher praise but as an entertaining precursor to mightier efforts like 48 Hours and Lethal Weapon it’s a worthwhile curio. Uneven in tone with a bumpy screenplay, the chemistry between the always loose Elliott Gould and pint sized dynamo Robert Blake smooths out many of the films flaws.
Michael Keneely (Elliott Gould) and Patrick Farrell (Robert Blake) are a pair of burnt out vice cops drowning in brazen prostitution rings and police corruption. We open with the disillusioned crime fighting duo staking out a dental office where the beautiful Jackie Faraday (Cornelia Sharpe) is turning a trick. Arresting Jackie later that day in a sting, Keneely and Farrell's investigation hits a wall almost immediately when her little black book reveals the names of several prominent politicians and senior law enforcement personnel.
Ignoring their captain’s direct orders, after the case is thrown out of court the two detectives become obsessed with bringing down the powerful gangster kingpin Carl Rizzo (Allen Garfield). Homosexual misadventures and perverted bathrooms designed to discourage, only ensure rules are broken as the two man team refuse to stay focused on any assignment outside of their pursuit.
Crossing the lines in Busting
John Doe Says:
Busting the dentist.
Released the same year as the similar cult favourite Freebie and Bean, Busting is a little darker but still very much a film of its time. Token seventies cynicism dictates the humor as much as the non PC approach to what was once called “sexual deviancy.” Billy Goldenberg’s (Columbo, Duel, Kojak) musical score has that Lalo Schiffrin dynamic. The violence is raw in a French Connection way, the dialogue crass and the action scenes achieve a hectic velocity.
Writer/Director Peter Hyams (Outland, Timecop, End of Days, The Presidio) has had a shaky career behind the lens. Arguably peaking with Capricorn One, he is also remembered as the man in the control room for the ill-conceived sequel to Kubrick’s 2001, 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
Watching Busting it is obvious that he was a young filmmaker full of energy and eager to prove to the studios he belonged in the chair. Teaming with cinematographer Earl Rath (Raid on Rommel, Go Ask Alice) there is an abundance of heavily choreographed, unbroken camera sets ups that pull back, dolly left and right while tracking the action. The technique works for the physical scenes, but a little static stillness would have gone a long way to raising the dialogue exchanges that dominate the films running time. Where the cameras constant motion succeeds for instance is an extended foot chase around the halfway mark. Fleeing down the corridors of a building into the streets and eventually arriving at a gun fight populated by innocent civilians.
The script too seems to want to draw attention to itself. If it weren’t for the nonchalant naturalism of the leading men many of the lines would culminate in cringing. Some of the comic book attitude in the second half of the movie almost works until the films punchline. which instead of a joke asks us to take what we saw seriously.
Juxtaposing the lack of subtlety in every other facet of the production, Blake and Gould provide an aloof presence that is enjoyable. As a pair of beaten by the system loose cannons each actor succeeds in making their part unique, where on the page they are not as diametrically opposed as the genre now dictates. Remembering this is before the buddy cop formula was concocted. These two are not polar opposites that learn to love each other. They have been partnered for a long time so there’s none of that breaking in the new guy thing or we are from different world’s shtick.
Elliott Gould’s, (The Long Goodbye, Little Murders, American History X) Detective Keneely is easily describes as Trapper John (M*A*S*H) becomes a cop in the subversive seventies. Dry delivery and a killer Movember handle bar mustache contributing to the character and offering amusement.
After years as a child star, Robert Blake (In Cold Blood, Electra Glide in Blue) is at ease in front of the camera and his varying energy levels bring dynamic results when combined with his costar.
Where the main players are comparatively natural, the rest of the cast are a little happier to stand out from the urban landscape, not that it clashes with the bemused mood of the film. Antonio Fargus (Crimewave, Shaft, Across 110th Street, Foxy Brown) would etch his name in pop culture history a year later as Huggy Bear in the TV classic Starsky and Hutch. Here as Stephen you can see that flamboyant future.
Playing the main villain Rizzo, Allen Garfield (The Conversation, The Candidate, Mother, Jugs and Speed) should get a citation just for smarminess. As Rizzo’s bodyguard, Sid Haig (The Devil's Rejects, Foxy Brown) doesn’t say much but his appearance is as loud as the bell-bottomed fashion of the era. Looking like a combination DNA mix of Deborah Unger and Theresa Russell, Cornelia Sharpe (Serpico) has limited story time but makes a demure impact that resonates into her performance.
Upon release Busting disappeared from public awareness after it bombed in cinemas. Though the film fails to match Freebie and Bean that it’s all but forgotten seems a little harsh to John Doe. It’s interesting to view for the lack of clichés that would emerge in the coming years and its place in the evolution of action cinema. Beyond the academic for JD the film provided a few laughs, some exciting pursuits and was an entertaining alternative to any number of staples that have been viewed far too many times in this precinct.
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