FOXY BROWN
1974
R
R
Foxy Brown is a 1974 blaxploitation film directed by Jack Hill. It follows a street-smart African-American woman named Foxy Brown (Pam Grier) who's waiting for her boyfriend Mike (Terry Carter), a former undercover agent who tipped the police about drug trafficking, to be released from a hospital after having facial reconstruction surgery. Foxy's brother Link (Antonio Fargas) happens to be on the run from the very people that Foxy's boyfriend was trying to put in prison, so when Link realizes that he's the same man, he calls Katherine Wall (Kathryn Loder), who runs the trafficking with her man Steve Elias (Peter Brown), to inform them that Mike is still alive in the hopes that it will help him settle his debt. Kathryn and Steve send two goons to kill Mike, which they do successfully. This forces Foxy to go on a rampage and vow vengeance against the people who had him killed.
Oh, they just don't make them like the used to. They just did things a little bit differently back in the '70s, you know? In the past few years, we've seen a few throwbacks to the ridiculous films from that decade (see: 2007's Grindhouse; 2009's Black Dynamite; and 2010's Machete), but Foxy Brown is a taste of the type of film that spurred movies like the ones I just mentioned.
That being said, it's not really that great of a movie, but that's part of the appeal of exploitation films. They're very upfront about what they're selling. In the case of Foxy Brown, we're getting two things: sex and action. (To be fair, that's what most of these films are selling, but that's neither here nor there). From the opening credits, which simply feature Pam Grier dancing in a number of scantily-clad outfits, we can see the sexuality they're selling. It's really all a showcase for Grier and her body because there's really not much acting going on anywhere in the film.
I mean, it's not that the acting is absolutely terrible, but it's not good by any means. Grier really just gets through the film by kicking ass and showing a little skin, and every once in a while, throwing out a sassy little quip. But that's about as far as it goes for her. The rest of the cast fills out rather blandly as no one really gives a performance worth memory. However, bad acting is a staple in exploitation films, so it's forgivable in such an instance.
The same goes for the screenplay. There's a tiny bit of a story going on here, but it's really all about the revenge plot from the get-go. However, the dialogue is relatively terrible, and the actors don't try to make the best of it. But as I said before, bad scripts and dialogue are both staples of this type of film, so you should probably know that going into the flick.
Overall, Foxy Brown delivers exactly what it attempts to deliver: sex, action and a little bit of gore. Oh, and it also gives you an absolutely brilliant final scene - it makes the entire film worthwhile. I won't give you Foxy's last little quip as she claims victory, but it's perfect in every way. Foxy Brown is definitely worth watching if you're interested in returning to the 1970s, or even if you're just a sex-crazed action junkie looking for a fix.
Movie Review Summary:
Grade: D
1.5 Thumbs Up
Oh, they just don't make them like the used to. They just did things a little bit differently back in the '70s, you know? In the past few years, we've seen a few throwbacks to the ridiculous films from that decade (see: 2007's Grindhouse; 2009's Black Dynamite; and 2010's Machete), but Foxy Brown is a taste of the type of film that spurred movies like the ones I just mentioned.
That being said, it's not really that great of a movie, but that's part of the appeal of exploitation films. They're very upfront about what they're selling. In the case of Foxy Brown, we're getting two things: sex and action. (To be fair, that's what most of these films are selling, but that's neither here nor there). From the opening credits, which simply feature Pam Grier dancing in a number of scantily-clad outfits, we can see the sexuality they're selling. It's really all a showcase for Grier and her body because there's really not much acting going on anywhere in the film.
I mean, it's not that the acting is absolutely terrible, but it's not good by any means. Grier really just gets through the film by kicking ass and showing a little skin, and every once in a while, throwing out a sassy little quip. But that's about as far as it goes for her. The rest of the cast fills out rather blandly as no one really gives a performance worth memory. However, bad acting is a staple in exploitation films, so it's forgivable in such an instance.
The same goes for the screenplay. There's a tiny bit of a story going on here, but it's really all about the revenge plot from the get-go. However, the dialogue is relatively terrible, and the actors don't try to make the best of it. But as I said before, bad scripts and dialogue are both staples of this type of film, so you should probably know that going into the flick.
Overall, Foxy Brown delivers exactly what it attempts to deliver: sex, action and a little bit of gore. Oh, and it also gives you an absolutely brilliant final scene - it makes the entire film worthwhile. I won't give you Foxy's last little quip as she claims victory, but it's perfect in every way. Foxy Brown is definitely worth watching if you're interested in returning to the 1970s, or even if you're just a sex-crazed action junkie looking for a fix.
Movie Review Summary:Grade: D
1.5 Thumbs Up
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