HICKEY & BOGGS (1972) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Robert Culp
Bill Cosby, Robert Culp, Rosalind Cash
Vincent Gardenia, Ed Lauter, James Woods
Four years after "I Spy" went off the air, Bill Cosby and Robert Culp teamed up on the big screen, playing down-and-out detectives who uncover a high-stakes money-laundering scheme. In contrast to the dashing agents they'd played on TV, these guys are visibly on the skids, working out of a rathole office and wondering how they can keep the phone from being cut off. Boggs (Culp) has alcohol issues. Hickey (Cosby) is battling depression. Even their wisecracks have an edge of weariness about them. Walter Hill wrote the script, and Culp does an effective job behind the camera as well as in front of it. The scene where Boggs, his cherished Ford Thunderbird torched in a gun battle, goes to a used-car lot and finds another beat-up wreck just like it is a throwaway highlight. He doesn't even test-drive the car. What would be the point? It's clear at a glance that they're made for each other. Both were young and cool once, but not anymore. Both have seen better days.
