I love this movie so much

Am I Missing Something?

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

What I'm reviewing now was the very last movie Pam Grier made for American International Pictures. She plays the title character as a photographer for a magazine who's on assignment to shoot the arrival of the "black Howard Hughes" Blake Tarr (Thalmus Rasulala). Accompanying her on some of her assignments other than the one I mentioned above is private detective Colt Hawkins (Yaphet Kotto). I'll stop there and just say how fun I found the whole thing and why not with a cast that includes Eartha Kitt, Scatman Crothers, Jim Backus, Ted Lange without his mustache that he became famous for when he was cast in "The Love Boat" a few years later, a pre-Apollo Creed Carl Weathers, and Godfrey Cambridge several months before his untimely death. I can't admit that everything that happened made sense but I found myself smiling if not always laughing the whole time I was watching. So on that note, Friday Foster is well worth a look.

Of the four films from the mid-'70s that starred Pam Grier in the heroic lead - Coffy, Foxy Brown, Sheba Baby, Friday Foster - this last film is undoubtedly the best - best screenplay, best direction, best production values, and an excellent cast delivering wonderful (campy but restrained) performances. So why is this traditionally given the lowest rating of these films? I suspect that this has to do with the expectations of the fans of the '70s "Blaxploitation" genre. "Friday Foster" toys playfully with Blaxploitation conventions, but doesn't adhere to them. The movie is actually targeted at a developing black middle class that was college educated and both aware of the stereotypes confronting them and ambitious to overcome these. Most enduring Blaxploitation fans now are actually white. politically left, and 40 or older; they secretly enjoy the stereotypes they argue are mocked in Blaxploitation, these remind them of an era when it was easier to deal with social classes rather than individuals.But long after Blaxploitation is forgotten as a genre, "Friday Foster" will be an enjoyable action film. The violence and danger are real enough - and very well paced, but the script and the actors performing it are witty enough to avoid taking any of it too seriously. The political message is still there, but there's no attempt to beat us over the head with it.Finally, it has to be noted that with this film Pam Grier at last came into her own as an actress. While her range is still limited by her age and experience, she has learned to push this range to its envelope and toy with expanding beyond it. Her inflection and diction in delivering her lines, along with her careful use of of her eyes and expression, are subtly rich in wit and focus, revealing as much of the character as the script itself."Coffy," Grier's best known film of that era, is not really a good film, and is not amusing enough as "bad but funny" for multiple viewings. "Friday Foster" is not "bad but funny" at all, it's just a good, well-made, fun action comedy.

Pam Grier looks desirable and gives a playful, likable performance as Friday Foster, another one of her patented liberated and resourseful heroines, but she leaves most of the physical stuff to her male co-star, Yaphet Kotto, this time around. These two make a great pair and it's a mystery why they didn't work together more often. The rest of the cast is solid as well, right down to the boy who plays Pam's little brother, who has some very funny line readings. The film itself is not among Pam's most exciting: the story is muddled, and some promising action sequences (like a car chase....in which she drives a hearse!) fall flat (kudos to the stuntmen jumping from rooftop to rooftop, though). But the well-chosen cast, the bright colors, and the funky dialogue & score keep it fun enough. (**)

Friday Foster (Pam Grier) is a magazine photographer who is given the assignment of covering the airport arrival of the richest black man in America. But Friday gets more than she bargained for as this routine assignment turns into an assassination attempt. Because Friday was able to get some shots of the would be killers, her life is in danger. Soon, everywhere she goes, people end up dead. Friday's investigations lead her to corrupt government officials, a renowned preacher with an eye for more than the Bible, and something called The Black Widow.Friday Foster is literally a Who's Who of 70s black actors. In addition to the always delightful Pam Grier, the movie features Yaphet Kotto, Eartha Kitt, Scatman Crothers, Carl Weathers, Ted Lange, Godfrey Cambridge, Thalmus Rasulala (what an awesome name), and more. While many members of this large cast have little more than cameo appearances, it was a fun to see them all together. I especially enjoyed seeing Kotto work with Grier. I wish the pair had made more films together. They have a good on screen chemistry. Plus, regardless of how silly the situation, Kotto brings an air of credibility to the proceedings.Unlike some of Grier's other films, Friday Foster has a decided lighthearted tone in comparison. That's not to say there aren't plenty of killings, but it never feels as depressing, downbeat, or serious as something like Coffy. It's a nice change of pace to see Grier laughing and joking with Kotto in many of the film's scenes. The action scenes are also good. One of my personal favorites is the rooftop chase with Kotto and Weathers. Very nice.I'm a fan of 70s Blaxplotation (and Pam Grier in particular) and Friday Foster is a welcome addition to my video library.