There are quite a few moments that are funny in this caper comedy, but a lot of the laughter seems to be forced and the plot itself is ridiculous. Fortunately it has a charming cast and they are trying to raise it above the average matinee fare that would be forgotten once it got released for television or to home video. Dom DeLuise, Jerry Reed and Luis Avalos are undercover police officers in Miami trying to break stolen goods rings. Their efforts fail with the crooks always getting off scot-free so they decide to open a pawn shop where the crooks will try to unload it so their partner, Suzanne Pleshette, can film the culprits for evidence. A bunch of oddballs come in and out of the shop, and they even discover that there are police officers on the take.
There are quite a few last surrounding the variety of people who come in and out, including a Thurston and Lovey Howell like couple who are selling dope, a kid trying to sell a stolen dog so he can get money to feed the family, a stereotypical Yente who comes in wanting to buy something so she can say she's helping a struggling business, and various shady characters with tough guy personalities but little inside the head, and even a few tough looking men dressed in drag as a disguise.
So what you get in the quality and quantity of funny characters, you don't get much in the way of a real plot, and when they try to break into a story line, it falls flat on its face. Obviously made for the "Smokey and the Bandit" crowd, the three leading men aren't interesting enough although DeLuise does get a few laughs. Pleshette could maintain your attention by reading the phone book with that gravelly voice (and that eternally gorgeous face), so she saves the film from being a bomb. Familiar character actors like Barney Martin and Bill McCutchen have nice little bits, but the script is weak and the action forced. Fine as a one shot deal for fans of action/comedy, but I felt hungry for something a little more intellectual and substantial than what this is able to give.
There are quite a few last surrounding the variety of people who come in and out, including a Thurston and Lovey Howell like couple who are selling dope, a kid trying to sell a stolen dog so he can get money to feed the family, a stereotypical Yente who comes in wanting to buy something so she can say she's helping a struggling business, and various shady characters with tough guy personalities but little inside the head, and even a few tough looking men dressed in drag as a disguise.
So what you get in the quality and quantity of funny characters, you don't get much in the way of a real plot, and when they try to break into a story line, it falls flat on its face. Obviously made for the "Smokey and the Bandit" crowd, the three leading men aren't interesting enough although DeLuise does get a few laughs. Pleshette could maintain your attention by reading the phone book with that gravelly voice (and that eternally gorgeous face), so she saves the film from being a bomb. Familiar character actors like Barney Martin and Bill McCutchen have nice little bits, but the script is weak and the action forced. Fine as a one shot deal for fans of action/comedy, but I felt hungry for something a little more intellectual and substantial than what this is able to give.