Cops and Robbers
Cops and Robbers
PG | 15 August 1973 (USA)
Cops and Robbers Trailers

Two disillusioned New York policemen plan a $10 million robbery to fuel their low pensions, only to run into one debacle after another in the process.

Reviews
Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.
filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Ddey65 One night a New York City cop on the beat (Joe Bologna) goes into a liquor store and holds it up just to see if he could get away with it, and he does. The next day while caught in a traffic jam at the Long Island Expressway/Cross Island Parkway interchange, he brags to his partner (Cliff Gorman) about it, and from that point on, it's all about the money for the two of them. All to the cool mellow '70's soundtrack by Michael LeGrande, Jacques Wilson and Candy Tate.Using a cops standard salary, and the economy as an excuse to justify it, they decide that if they're going to end their crime spree, they should make a hit so big, they won't have to rob anyone anymore. But the question is who? And the answer comes in the form of a round-up of some mobsters from New Jersey lead by crime family boss Pasquale Aniello (John P. Ryan). After they make bail, the two cops decide to approach the boss under the guise of an offer to pull a job for them. As it turns out, the mob wants to get them to rob some bearer bonds from a financial firm on Wall Street during a parade for the Apollo 11 Astronauts, then make an exchange with the mobsters in Central Park. The firm they rob cooperates with them, but as it turns out, they're not entirely so squeaky clean either.This movie was released in 1973, but was shot in 1972 and evidently takes place in 1969. This skewed time-line seems to be the biggest flaw on the movie, not to mention a 1972 Plymouth Fury NYPD Special suddenly becoming another car a couple of times. The familiar landscape to those of us from the New York Tri-State area especially during that era, makes it worth seeing. I actually remember catching the end of this on some weekend afternoon on WNEW Channel 5 during the scene where Joe Bolonga and Cliff Gorman are hassled by a bunch of bicyclists in Central Park and Joe throws a middle finger at them... UNCENSORED!! This was from back in the day when local TV stations existed and were willing to show obscure movies at odd hours. The movie has been on my mind from time to time ever since. I'm glad I got myself a copy.
joed1667 Cliff Gorman and Joe Bologna play 2 cops but they can be just about anyone else in any profession. Just 2 guys trying to make a living and support their families in the craziness of New York City. Even though they are corrupt, you can't help but feel sorry for them because all they are trying to do is survive. We soon find out that everyone else is just as corrupt, from the grocery store manager who justifies walking out of the store each day with a sack of groceries as a "prerogative of my managerial position", to the executive and his secretary at a Wall St. securities firm padding the amount stolen so they can keep a little for themselves to the crooked mobsters who weren't going to let anyone keep the money in return for the stolen bonds.This was just a nicely made, lighthearted movie with a good cast of actors and takes us back to the 70's. There's no sex scenes, no wild ridiculous explosions, no actors doing the physically impossible, no computer generated graphics, just a nice clean (and corrupt) movie. It's movies like this that Hollywood needs to go back and remember a time that you had quality, and not quantity with the garbage they are throwing into them today.I would like to see this movie released in Blu Ray and with the scenes added that regular DVD version cut.
bob_gilmore1 Donold Westlake is a true American original. He wrote a number of great books on capers in the 70's including Bankjob and The Hot Rock. But his best screenplay is clearly Cops And Robbers which also benefits greatly from top notched performances and an effortless presentation of a tightly knit story. It is one of the few films from the period that has aged well and given the fact that it was never released during the VHS era (and rarely screened on television) it is a treat for those that missed it.The DVD is nothing special (pan and scan without special features) but it captures the essence of the theatrical release and given the lack of close-ups it doesn't suffer a lot from being cropped. It captures the spirit of 70s morality without offending many. In summary, it remains a strangely uplifting "feel good" artifact of an era that generally feels more dated than the proceeding decade.
snowboarderbo i first saw this flick as a kid back in the late 70s, when i lived in Bergen County, NJ. my old man worked in manhattan, so i made plenty of trips to NYC, and this movie just perfectly captured the time & place. Good acting, great story, and some pointed social commentary kept it in my head until i was able to locate a copy on VHS back in the early 90s. If you like caper/crime/cop movies, this one will keep you interested, gasping, and laughing.