This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

Mr. T (no, not that Mr.T - Robert Hooks, who predated the mohawked maniac by many years) is one cool cat. He's got the flyest threads, the coolest car, the hottest women, and the most no-sweat attitude to life anyone has ever seen. But he doesn't ever brag or show off, he keeps an understated cool at all times. It's not entirely clear what Mr. T does exactly, but he's licensed to carry a gun (and to kill, presumably) - but he notes he has licenses to do many other things as well. Being a jack of all trades, two men, Chalky Price (Winfield) and Pete Cockrell (Waite) hire Mr. T to protect them against the men that are invading their illegal, underground gambling circuit. When a murder occurs during one such gambling outing, both Police Chief Marx (Smithers) and crime honcho Big (Harris) want Mr. T's head, though he's innocent of the shooting. Things get a lot more complicated from there, but suffice to say, Mr. T never loses his cool. But will he get out alive? In our estimation, Trouble Man is one of the best films from the Blaxploitation period of the 70's. It's a crying shame that it was never released on VHS in America, where it then could have really developed the standing it deserves. This lack of presence in video stores may help to understand why this title isn't mentioned among the old stand-bys of the genre such as Shaft (1971) and Super Fly (1972). But it did develop a following over the years nonetheless, and Fox finally released a nice DVD in 2005. Director Ivan Dixon has an immense career in the entertainment industry, but only really dipped his toe into Blaxploitation waters, having directed both this and The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973) the following year after Trouble Man. Having been 42 years old at the time of his helming of this movie, it's reasonable to assume he wasn't entirely sold on the notion of so-called "Blaxploitation", and spent a large chunk of his career in TV, both in front of and behind the camera. But he and writer John D.F. Black imbue this film with a lot of sly cleverness and wit, rising it above many of its contemporaries - but like Mr. T himself, not in a loud or showy way.Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the movie, to a large portion of people anyway, is the excellent Marvin Gaye soundtrack and title song. Many people knew Gaye's music from the movie far more than they knew the movie itself, having been released contemporaneously with the film on Motown Records. The utter coolness of Mr. T, the impeccable writing and direction, and the Marvin Gaye music make an unbeatable combination. With Trouble Man, you can travel back to a time when every man wore a suit (with a wide tie), dudes hung out in pool halls, and if you wanted to contact someone, your only choice was rotary phone. All of this just adds, as if it were necessary, another fascinating layer to this movie.Movies in general have only gotten worse, not better, since Trouble Man. Long live Mr. T.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com

This guy sports no mohawk, full beard, camouflage pants or 500 k in gold chains, and yet this Mr. T is just as supremely bad-ass as his more famous namesake. Over a decade before B.A. Baracus first pitied fools with the "A-Team", 'Trouble Man' Robert Hooks kicked asses through grindhouse cinemas in this highly entertaining blaxploitation flick of 1972. Mr T. (Robert Hooks) is a super-tough and super-cool player, private eye and basically the man for every business that calls for balls - the 'Trouble Man'. As one of the promotional lines promises: "He carries two guns, one to stop trouble and one to make trouble." If a job is dangerous and needs to be done, Mr. T is the man to do it. Trying to trick him, however, is not recommendable...While "Trouble Man" is, as far as I am concerned, no highlight of 70s blaxploitation cinema (films like "Coffy", the original "Shaft" or "Truck Turner" come with my highest possible recommendations) it is a film that every fan of the black Exploitation sub-genre should appreciate. The story is not the most original ever, but good enough. The film is full of action and violent shootouts, the score by Marvin Gaye is cool (even if not quite as cool as the contemporary scores by Isaac Hayes), and Robert Hooks is great in the lead. Some more female eye-candy certainly wouldn't have bothered me, but overall the film shouldn't be missed by blaxploitation fans. Highly recommended to my fellow lovers of 70s cult-cinema.

Back in 1979, Harry Medved brought out a funny and interesting book entitled "The Fifty Worst Films of All Time". Considering that Medved was only 17 at the time and that video and cable were only in their infancy, it was a truly amazing book. Since then, I have tried to see as many of his 50 worst films--and TROUBLE MAN is about #35 for me. However, as was sometimes the case with a few of his selections, TROUBLE MAN wasn't that bad a film. Shallow and violent and not as good as most films of the blaxploitation genre, sure--but not exactly bad.The main character, called "Mr. T" (not THAT Mr. T) is played by Robert Hooks. He doesn't have a huge amount of charisma but he's apparently one bad mutha that drives a Lincoln and lives in a cool pad with lots of mylar wallpaper and 70s do-dads. How he got all this expensive stuff is a bit vague. He describes himself as a private detective but he didn't do much of that in the film--instead making his money through gambling and "fixing things".Paul Winfield and Ralph Waite (the father from the TV show "The Waltons") are gamblers who hire Mr. T to help put a stop to robberies occurring at their dice games. The problem is that this is all a set-up--there are no robberies and it's just a scheme to take over "Mr. Big's" territory. By the way, I love how people are called things like Mr. T and Mr. Big--what great clichés.Well, after being jerked around through most of the film by Winfield and Waite, Mr. T becomes a tad perturbed and goes on a killing spree that is basically brainless entertainment. If you like seeing a bad mutha killing mobsters with his .45 again and again, then you are in for a treat. My problem with the film was that there was practically no depth to the story--little back story and Mr. T was a very wooden character. Compared to films such as COFFEY or even BLACULA, TROUBLE MAN lacked emotional range and substance.Still, even with its many shortcomings, it still was a long way from 50 worst territory. While I am not exactly an expert on blaxploitation, it isn't the worst of the genre. For example, "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" is much worse when it comes to acting and production values...and EVERYTHING!

i found the soundtrack to this film in the bargain bin at my local record store. it is spectacular. all songs are by marvin gaye. if nothing else i want to see this film for its soundtrack. i am also a big blaxploitation fan (coffy and black caesar, esp.). from the looks of it, this film is out of print.