If I remember right, some technicality means that you cannot label Bill Cosby as a rapist nowadays. That didn't stop me from feeling no small amount of reservation, however, when I realised that Hickey & Boggs starred Robert Culp alongside the definitely-not-rapey Bill Cosby. I debated how to get the review done, and then I remembered that movies are chock full of people that I wouldn't necessarily want to say good things about, personally, and so I'd have to go on with business as usual. There may even be other movies I watch one day that feature the definitely-not-rapey Cosby, and I would just do the same thing. I won't use any images of him, and I won't feel great about it, but he is one of many threads woven throughout the fabric of cinema.
Culp is Frank Boggs and Cosby is Al Hickey. Both of them work together as private investigators who end up tasked with tracking down a missing woman. What begins as a simple case soon turns into something a bit more complicated, and much more dangerous. Everyone involved in the central investigation starts to die, and both of our leads eventually figure out that the missing woman is at the heart of a very sticky web.
Written by Walter Hill, this is a strange film, but I can see why it has retained a cult following throughout the decades since it was released. Things start off fairly light, and the chemistry between Culp and Cosby is as you would expect, but they soon spiral into much darker waters. The third act is about as bleak and nihilistic as can be, with the typical fight back from our heroes given no fanfare or cool edge. Yes, you get men holding their ground while also holding huge hand cannons, but it's ultimately dissatisfying when so many lives have already been ruined.
Culp does well in his role, Cosby less so. I'm not sure I can blame the leads for that though. The script doesn't quite know how to keep things consistent, and clearly lures viewers in before dragging them towards an abyss. Culp's direction is solid, if a bit flat, and there are a couple of set-pieces that struggle to impress while weighed down by that darker tone.
Elsewhere, both Rosalind Cash and Isabel Sandford get a couple of good moments, and Robert Mandan, Michael Moriarty, Vincent Gardenia, and Ed Lauter help to populate the cast with interesting and watchable characters.
While it's certainly not a bad film, Hickey & Boggs feels worse in comparison to most of the other films that have gone for a similar vibe. The mystery element never feels as intriguing as it should, the occasional moments of shocking violence are toned down by the shot choice and editing, the interplay between the two leads starts to fade away as the bodies pile up, and it all plays out like a neo-noir presented by people who aren't really all that keen on making a neo-noir. Everything is there, but none of it fully works.
6/10
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