Review of Sheba, Baby (1975) by Blake P — 29 Oct 2015

The fact that "Sheba, Baby" is the worst of the Pam Grier starring blaxploitation classics, the others being "Coffy," "Foxy Brown," and "Friday Foster," is not the fault of Pam Grier herself but the fault of William Girdler, a hackish director who doesn't seem to know what to do with his larger-than-life star. Flat and uninspired, "Sheba, Baby" feels like the reject younger sister of its aforementioned siblings, attempting to copy what made the others so great in the first place but, what do you know, ends up coming across as a little girl lost in search of a personality for prom. It is lucky to have Grier, who, despite meandering material, maintains a winning sense of humor and maintains a screen presence still able to knock us out even if the action around her is drivel.

Her Sheba Shayne is perhaps the most perceptive and self-respecting of the women she played in the mid-1970s - a private detective with a keen eye for bullshit, she uses wit and courage in ways other than useful seduction.

Sheba is currently living it up in Chicago, where she is admired and desired; professionally, she is at her highest point. But she is brought back to her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky after her father is beaten up and threatened by a band of criminals who plan on stealing his insurance business right out from under him. Sheba isn't the kind to sit back and hope for the best - she scoffs at anyone (namely her father himself) who doubts her because of her genitalia - so she cuts corners of the law and looks for the bad guys attempting to swipe her family's livelihood herself. But after tragedy mares the investigation, her sleuthing escalates to near action heroine levels. Scratch that - she makes Angelina Jolie look like Jan Brady on a school night.

And yet, despite Grier's dedication and our pure enjoyment of simply watching her, "Sheba, Baby" lacks the aliveness of the Holy Trinity, all of which stand as some of the best films in the blaxploitation cycle as a whole. While they all garnered cheap thrills greasy but nonetheless successful, "Sheba, Baby" is stuck in a middle ground of average worsened by a pedestrian director. If Grier wasn't starring, I'm sure the film never would have been made - it is all too obvious of a cash-in regarding her box-office stamina. Good thing "Friday Foster" stepped in as the grand finale and brought its protagonist a role worthy of her talents. Otherwise, I'd be having a mental breakdown in the corner of the room, and we wouldn't want that, now would we?

But while "Sheba, Baby" is neither bad nor good, it certainly isn't a waste of time. Couple it with "Cleopatra Jones" or some other tame exercise in 1970s black cinema as a double feature you'll be all set for an entertaining movie night. I just wish it weren't so middling - Grier deserves better, and blaxploitation wasn't nearly long enough of an era for second chances.