Very Cool!!!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This was Pam Grier's final blaxploitation film. By now she had stopped doing nude scenes. Pam returns home to find her dad being muscled out of business by some thugs. She springs into action against them. What I like about this film is that it captured the era so well. The large automobiles, the colorful clothes with wide lapels, and the prices for fast food burgers. Pam apparently does her own stunts. The scenes of her running and shooting a gun are comical by today's standards. Pam "runs like a girl" which is unlike tough women in the films today. She also runs around trains, cars, and buildings instead of jumping on roof tops.As a regular film, it is somewhat of a let down, especially compared to Pam's other works such as Coffy, The Big Bird Cage Women in Cages, The Big Doll House, and Scream Blacula Scream.No f-bombs, not much in the sex and nudity department.

"Andy Shayne" (Rudy Challenger) owns a small loan company in Louisville, Kentucky. When he refuses to sell it to some local gangsters he is beaten up. This causes his daughter, "Sheba" to temporarily leave her private investigation office in Chicago to be with him. Things escalate and Sheba decides to get directly involved and find those responsible. So much for the plot. As far as everything else was concerned this film had its good points and its bad points. Overall the acting wasn't that good. But I liked Pam Grier and Austin Stoker (as "Brick Williams"). I also got a kick out of the performance of Christopher Joy (as "Walker"). Likewise, I thought the choice of Louisville was a refreshing change from the usual film locations of New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. On the other hand, both the fight scenes and the dialogue left much to be desired and I believe it lowers the overall effect. The bottom line is that both "Coffy" and "Foxy Brown" were better and I have rated this film accordingly. Barely average.

If anything, William Girdler was an opportunist who wanted a piece of the action in regards to whatever was popular during the time. I mean, a blaxploitation flick in Louisville, Kentucky..who would of thunk it?!?! I can just imagine the enthusiasm he must've had getting Pam Grier, quite a hot item, to star in his picture. If you are pretty familiar with the genre, Girdler's Sheba, Baby doesn't necessarily stray too far from formula. Despite a change of venue, the film still deals with a ruthless businessman nicknamed Shark who muscles in on loan companies, using stooges to threaten them in order to get their signatures. Grier is Sheba Shayne, a former Louisville cop working in Chicago who returns home at the request of her father's partner, Brick(Austin Stoker, Assault on Precinct 13). Sheba's father, despite Shark's bullying tactics(..his man in town is Pilot, a wannabe gangster, equipped with stooges who aren't that menacing, rather buffoonish in nature, so thin-skinned they hire hit men outside of town to shoot up the Shayne Loan building), won't give up his company, and this eventually costs him his life when a warning through the use of brute force, leads to his being killed. Sheba will get her revenge on all those responsible for his father's death. In other words, Shark's ass is grass..can you dig it? Seeing Grier with a magnum is enough to sell this particular film, the novelty of the setting being in Louisville is part of the package. You even get to see a speedboat chase, Grier in shootouts with gangsters(..not necessarily the most polished kind one might be accustomed to seeing in a Chicago or New York during this period in blaxploitation), lots of blood spurting from bullet-riddled bodies torn apart by gun-fire, and colorful characters(..such as a wimpy loan shark in pimp-dress named Walker and Pilot who is one of the least scary mobsters you are likely to see)who show up during the film, most having the misfortune of coming in contact with a very angry Sheba. The plot itself is nothing special, but Grier is always worth watching, and Girdler orchestrates plenty of action sequences to keep his target audience entertained. A modest success for Girdler, and one of his more accomplished films.

Sheba Shayne (Pam Grier) receives a telegram informing her that her father may be in trouble. Sheba, a private investigator and former cop, goes to her father's aid. But someone will stop at nothing to run her father out of business. An attempt to show their muscle goes awry and Sheba's father is gunned down in cold blood. These guys have messed with the wrong woman.If I had to describe Sheba Baby, the best I can come up with is Pam Grier Lite with some really bad acting. For a Pam Grier film, Sheba Baby is incredibly tame. It's nowhere near as violent as some of her earlier films. Gone are the over-the-top images of Pam placing a small revolver or razor blades in her afro. Pilot (D'Urville Martin) and his crew can't hold a candle to some of the real villains Pam faced in her previous movies. It's strictly by-the-numbers and almost has a made-for-TV feel. As for the bad acting, the baddies that Pam faces off with are as unnatural sounding in their delivery as I've seen. As a result, characters like Pilot don't come across as threatening as they should or need to for the movie to work.That's not to say there aren't moments or elements in Sheba Baby that I didn't enjoy (Pam in a wetsuit and Pam brandishing a spear gun), it's just that when compared with Pam's other films like Coffy, Foxy Brown, and even Friday Foster that the movie fails.One final observation - maybe I'm just more sensitive to these things post-9/11, but I don't remember a time, even in the security lax 70s, when you could take a suitcase full of guns on an airplane. When Sheba flies to her father's aid, she's got an arsenal packed in her luggage!