Review of Trouble Man (1972) by Michael T — 21 Oct 2016
A pretty fun movie from the heyday of Blacksplotation cinema. Robert Hooks plays Mr. T or just plain T (this was long before Lawrence Turcaud had become Mr. T and played 'Clubber Lang' in Rocky III).
T is a pretty impressive cat who wears expensive clothes, drives a cool white Cadillac convertible, lives in an expensive apartment and has no real means of support. He hangs out a pool hall in downtown Los Angeles and when he isn't winning pool games he acts as a kind of "fixer" and has a valid private investigator's license.
Well T is approached by Chalky (Paul Winfield ) and his partner Pete (Ralph Waite) who run floating crap games that are being ripped off. T is hired to figure who is ripping off the partners but Chalky and Pete are planning to muscle I on a rival crime-lord Mr.
Big (Julius Harris) and pin the murder of one of Big's crew on T. Big wants to waste T and LAPD Captain Joe Marx (Bill Smithers) wants to bust him. Much violence ensues along with all the double and triple crosses and T has to keep one step ahead of the police, clear his name, and pick up a sexy policewoman (Tracy Reed).
T is ice cool throughout the whole affair. Hooks, a decent actor who often played the heavy in 1970s cop shows is very entertaining in the role of T. Look for Gala Kelly as T's love interest and Felton Perry and Gordon Jump in minor roles.
The soundtrack is by Marvin Gaye. Nothing great but if you like the genre, its pretty entertaining.
This review of Trouble Man (1972) was written by Michael T on 21 Oct 2016.
Trouble Man has generally received positive reviews.
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