Well, if you're going to make a comedy about two smart guys dealing with the horrible institution that was American slavery... this is probably the gold standard (whatever that might be for a comedy about slavery). Interesting that this came out several years before Blazing Saddles, yet was actually a far edgier comedy about race relations in the old West. That is to say, edgy in premise, not in execution: it's simply a light comedy about two con artists who get into trouble. Fans of Garner's "Support Your Local..." movies should enjoy this one a lot.
James Garner is in top form here and Louis Gossett Jr. (credited as Lou Gossett) is very appealing.
The best thing the script does is show us James Garner's character being a bit of a thoughtless jerk who doesn't quite understand his white privilege straight off, rather than having that "surprise" us in the middle of the film as a conflict-generating plot development.
In a nutshell, the premise sounds terrible for a comedy, but it's actually not a terrible movie at all, but well done for its era (late Sixties/early Seventies farce).
James Garner is in top form here and Louis Gossett Jr. (credited as Lou Gossett) is very appealing.
The best thing the script does is show us James Garner's character being a bit of a thoughtless jerk who doesn't quite understand his white privilege straight off, rather than having that "surprise" us in the middle of the film as a conflict-generating plot development.
In a nutshell, the premise sounds terrible for a comedy, but it's actually not a terrible movie at all, but well done for its era (late Sixties/early Seventies farce).