Trouble Man
Trouble Man
R | 01 November 1972 (USA)
Trouble Man Trailers

It seems that masked men are knocking over the floating crap games of Chalky and Pete. Chalky and Pete hire the cool, loose, elegant Mr. T to fix things. Then, the masked manipulators set up the death of a collector for a rival gang lord. It looks like it's up to T to hold a gang war from breaking out, keep the police off his back, and earn his fee from Chalky and Pete.

Reviews
Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Motompa Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.
Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
Karlee The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
RanchoTuVu Robert Hooks as Mr. T is a skilled and licensed private eye with contacts in the underground gambling scene (higher stakes crap games) in 1970s Los Angeles. He's cool enough to have both the crooks and the cops trying to figure out what his next move will be. He finds out about an intense competition for the illicit gambling business between a faction led by an impressively sleazy Ralph Waite and his seemingly junior partner played by Paul Winfield and another cool character named Big (Julius Harris) who operates the other syndicate. The black actors play tough parts but so do Waite and the white actors who play his protection, wielding some nifty looking sawed off shotguns. The movie is directed with a pace that moves along well by Ivan Dixon, though some of the stuff Mr. T pulls off is a bit too cool to be believed. But most of Trouble Man looks to be shot on actual locations in the classic color cinematography of the 1970s capturing seedy LA's early 70s essence.
Witchfinder General 666 This guy sports no mohawk, full beard, camouflage pants or 500 k in gold chains, and yet this Mr. T is just as supremely bad-ass as his more famous namesake. Over a decade before B.A. Baracus first pitied fools with the "A-Team", 'Trouble Man' Robert Hooks kicked asses through grindhouse cinemas in this highly entertaining blaxploitation flick of 1972. Mr T. (Robert Hooks) is a super-tough and super-cool player, private eye and basically the man for every business that calls for balls - the 'Trouble Man'. As one of the promotional lines promises: "He carries two guns, one to stop trouble and one to make trouble." If a job is dangerous and needs to be done, Mr. T is the man to do it. Trying to trick him, however, is not recommendable...While "Trouble Man" is, as far as I am concerned, no highlight of 70s blaxploitation cinema (films like "Coffy", the original "Shaft" or "Truck Turner" come with my highest possible recommendations) it is a film that every fan of the black Exploitation sub-genre should appreciate. The story is not the most original ever, but good enough. The film is full of action and violent shootouts, the score by Marvin Gaye is cool (even if not quite as cool as the contemporary scores by Isaac Hayes), and Robert Hooks is great in the lead. Some more female eye-candy certainly wouldn't have bothered me, but overall the film shouldn't be missed by blaxploitation fans. Highly recommended to my fellow lovers of 70s cult-cinema.
bboyd2201 I originally became curious about this movie because of the original score and Soundtrack by Marvin Gaye. After waiting a couple of years for the DVD to be released, I was truly impressed by the film as a whole. I'm very disappointed by the score of this film on IMDb. This has to be the most slept on blackploitation movie there is. It has very excellent plot and cinematography that puts you right into the action. Hell, Robert Hooks has to be one of the most unsung heroes in action movies. I watch the movie over a dozen times There was someone that was "cooler" than Shaft, His name is Mr. T. (not the guy with the Mohawk). This is a definite must for you black action collection.
dj_bassett "Mr. T", aka "Mr Trouble", aka "Trouble Man" (Robert Hooks) is the kind of guy who can do it all: run interference in the underworld, kung fu bad guys, schmooze it up with the cops, beat a pool shark at his own game, fake a crime scene, invade a gang's hideout, intimidate a landlord, and look good doing it to, baby. Mr. T takes a job from Paul Winfield (!) and Pa Walton himself, Ralph Waite (!!!) to find out who's been knocking over their crap games. Everything's not as it seems, though, and before you know it ol' Mr. T's in a world of hurt.Amiable blaxploitation epic doesn't have a lot of action, really: it's more content to cruise along with a sense of style and a hip attitude. Both are pretty well conveyed, though. Even better is the script, which, while no masterpiece, is tight and complicated: you do have to pay attention to keep aware of what's exactly going on and who's messing with who. (It's interesting that such a level of craft was devoted to what was essentially throwaway B product. If only people cared that much about today's throwaway B product. ) Classic Marvin Gaye soundtrack.