You won't be disappointed!

Thanks for the memories!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Continuing my plan to watch every Burt Reynolds movie in his filmography in order, I come to 'Fuzz'My usual Plot In A Paragraph is a bit tricky, as there are several plots, which all take place at the same time, which is probably more realistic than most cop movies, because things are always happening at the same time in a police station. Let's see. Plot In A Paragraph: A gang of bombers led by a mysterious man known only as "The Deaf Man" (Yul Brynner) is blowing up city officials as part of an extortion plot. Some punk kids are setting drunken bums on fire and a rapist is loose in the park.I really enjoyed this movie Reynolds shares great chemistry with Tom Skerrit and Jack Weston, and Yul Brynner and Raquel Welch were both good too!! It had some funny scenes and rather than good police work, the cops stumble on the solution by sheer coincidence (which makes a refreshing change) The nicest scene in the movie is a touching moment between Reynolds and his deaf wife in the hospital, as Reynolds attempts to play down his serious injuries!!

For a 90 minute movie, there sure is hell a lot of plot. We watch as a variety of cases converge at the end as Boston's *cough* finest *cough* set out to make arrests regarding two arsonists who set fire to bums, a trio behind a series of bombings which are killing city public figures, and a duo who plan to rob a liquor store. The punchline is how, not through "solid police work", the cases are solved basically because those who commit the crimes fall right into their laps.This cop comedy doesn't exactly paint a flattering view of a specific precinct whose detectives seem unable to catch a serial bomber, who leaves notes demanding ransom money in exchange for the lives of those targeted. We also see how busy the precinct can be during serious renovations, as the desks are cluttered, phones are ringing, people pass to and fro, and two goofy painters cause mischief as they often get in the way of the daily routines, causing the officers unneeded pains. Good cast has Burt Reynolds, Tom Skerritt, Jack Weston, James McEachin, and Racquel Welch as detectives assigned to various cases, often assisting each other at times. I was rather surprised to see Yul Brynner show up as the infamous "deaf man with the hearing aid", the mastermind behind the bombings.For some reason, Fuzz just didn't satisfy me. It seems that the filmmakers just had too much damn plot and not enough time to dedicate to the endless stream of characters and stories. Trying to provide equal screen time to the actors involved seemed quite daunting. It's a superb cast and if they were given a central case, the mad bombings, maybe this could've been a little more cohesive. The preposterous finale where our heroes get the bad guys gift-wrapped to them must've been quite amusing on paper, but I was shaking my head at the mere absurdity of it..it's quite a coincidence(s)that all the cases burdening the Boston precinct's cops would culminate in one general area in the city, allowing them to close chapters they couldn't do on their own. The cops in the film have their share of bumbling errors, often muscling the wrong people as Brynner constantly fools them. These cops, however, have a camaraderie that's admirable, clowning around with each other to keep the pressures and unpleasantness of the job from getting to them. Welch is almost raped by the man she's assigned to capture. Reynolds is almost burned alive by two teenagers who he's horrified to discover are the serial arsonists. Skerritt is often arresting people who have little to do with his desired suspects. McEachin actually apprehends the painters attempting to steal precinct equipment while in surveillance. We see that police work isn't always cut and dry, that the daily grinds associated with the duties of detectives often result in mistakes, bad judgments, blunders, and situations which they unfortunately inherit while trying to solve cases that are certainly difficult and tiresome.Reynolds works the usual charm and Skerritt is breezy. Chubby Weston is jolly fun as Reynolds oft-humiliated partner falling prey to one problem after another while moving from case to case. Welch, with a rather underwritten role, doesn't have much to work with, probably hired for her sexiness. Brynner is suave and cool, despite being a diabolical killer. I do think where the film does succeed is in capturing the madcap mayhem of a busy precinct, and there's nothing quite as effective as seeing the authentic Boston locations..that's what made the 70s so good, the abilities they once had to capture the atmosphere of the city streets and the array of eccentric people who live within it's confines.

With the last shot leaving very much in doubt whether the crime wave that has struck the 87th precinct is truly over, my guess is that the producers were anticipating a Fuzz 2. The need for one never arose however.A very good group of players just can't quite get this film to come together. Fuzz reminds me of a Police Academy film with two many pretensions. In fact the Boston PD may just be where those Academy graduates end up.The main plot of the film involves a master criminal, the Deaf Man played by Yul Brynner who is blackmailing the city of Boston so he won't kill any of their top officials. He calls his threat into the precinct with detectives Burt Reynolds, Tom Skerritt, Jack Weston, and Raquel Welch are working. When they don't believe him, Brynner kills a couple of city officials to make his point.A couple of other story lines involving a search for some punks setting homeless on fire and a rapist and somehow and through some Clousseau like luck this crowd actually solves all the cases. You have to see the film to see how they do it.Best scenes are Raquel and Skerritt in a sleeping bag while on stakeout with Skerritt getting terribly distracted and Reynolds and Weston as nuns observing them and a possible perpetrator. That's for the main cast members, but when painters Gino Conforti and Gerald Hiken who are busy painting the precinct while all this is going steal the film whenever they're on screen. In fact in the old days some studio would have teamed these two permanently for a series of films. Fuzz is the harbinger of Police Academy films to come.

Burt Reynolds is so laid-back in this picture I thought he might fall over. He, Jack Weston and Tom Skerritt are cops at the Boston Precinct trying to stop a serial killer from blowing up more politicians, Yul Brynner is the bad guy who knows just what clueless cops these guys are, and Raquel Welch is the new badge in the building (the guys humiliate her for awhile, but she's tough and proves her merit). This is a routine cop comedy with dramatic and sometimes violent overtones, not unlike "MASH" (which it attempts to emulate in its cynicism). It was moderately popular in theaters in 1972 mainly because Burt Reynolds had just posed for Cosmo magazine and the ads and the movie one-sheet played that up. I liked Welch's scenes defending herself in the office (where she's been unceremoniously dumped at a desk) and the climactic moments are well done. The end vocal by Dinah Shore is a wonderful bit (Burt was dating her at the time). But that very last shot is perplexing: there's no explanation for it, and I'm sure it left audiences baffled. It's an artistic shot, done with humor, but considering what happens before it, it makes no logical sense. **1/2 from ****