The early '70s was a goldmine for Los Angeles noir, as the city matured and the independent film came along for the ride. On the surface, this film is a great example: a complex, almost viscerally intuitive plot, excellent cinematography, decent and often interesting direction and editing, and like so many films shot during this period in Los Angeles, a kind of pre-nostalgia for the often-dark place that was disappearing, and turning into something even worse, a place of mindless, impersonal violence, with the bland corporate character of the late 20th century.That said, the film suffers from perhaps being too understated, and certainly too nihilistic. Fans of Walter Hill might take issue, but this is a problem I have with most of his films; while they might be visually interesting and often brilliant, they are so hopeless as to make one wonder, as the characters in this film do aloud, what the point is. In this film there are two survivors, the title characters; nearly every other character is killed or so one-dimensionally hateful that it renders the conclusion quite unsatisfying. I especially felt the lack of character permitted to Cosby and Culp; while they were certainly playing against their debonair banter in "I Spy" on purpose, Hill's screenplay renders them so oppressed and silent that they are almost outside the story, like some existential Pinter characters dropped in to intentionally find the rock-bottom. It was a valiant effort, but after the final carnage, I found it so pointless and yet a clear sign where Hill was going, into a glamorous, beautiful world of violence for its own sake.

Bill Cosby is Hickey and Robert Culp is Boggs, two partners in a run-down Los Angeles private detective agency. They're swept up in a battle between two gangs over a stash of half a million dollars. The police hate the two private eyes because, as they investigate the case, dead bodies start turning up. A climactic shoot out on the beach involves two airplanes. The protagonists are the only survivors.It's a confusing and twisted story, hard to follow, but the frustration is relieved by occasional minor that have some originality. Director Culp doesn't always give us a head-on shot of what's happening, but shows us the reaction of others so that we know anyway. And there is some humor, understated like the rest of the story.Example of comic incident. Culp has been torturing himself by visiting the club where his divorced wife is a go-go dancer. He still loves her, while she enjoys seeing him in pain. "Eat your heart out," she sneers while uncoiling her hips towards him. Cosby drags him out, drunk, and takes him to a used car dealer to buy a car. The barely sober Culp reels to the nearest dented auto, clicks some switches on and off, and asked the smiling salesman, "How's it run?" Salesman: "Terrific." The salesman has his cigar almost back in his mouth but Culp instantly replies, "I'll take it," and the cigar is halted in mid-lift while the salesman gapes.The two men pack .44 magnums in the last half of the movie, but, alas, they don't have the panache of Dirty Harry's Big Gun, which appeared a year earlier, nor do they make thunderous sounds or give any evidence of recoil when fired. They look like pea-shooters with extra-long barrels.The fact that the story is almost too complicated to follow needn't be the kiss of death. Raymond Chandler was notorious and yet some of his work has been turned into winners. The thing is that Chandler usually had a narrator, Philip Marlowe, given to crude literary tropes: "Her hair was the color of gold in old paintings." Or, "My bank account could have crawled under a duck's belly." "Hickey and Boggs" has no narrator and, lacking a compelling plot, must be carried along by its performances and its atmosphere, a little like "Chinatown," but it doesn't pull it off. Both Hickey and Boggs seem exhausted and sweaty. Cosby and Culp work well together but their dialog lacks drama. They'd worked together for years on a TV series, "I Spy." There's nothing notable about the milieu either. The set dressings are no more than functional. The exteriors have only occasional scenes that hint at the summer heat and noise of Los Angeles -- the cars whizzing by on the freeways, the houses perched on cliffs, the ubiquitous Cal Worthington commercials on television.In the end, after a nihilistic pronouncement, the two men walk away from the carnage with shoulders slumped. The viewer knows how they feel.

The guys from I, Spy are back and "it" hits the fan. Hickey and Boggs are two long in the tooth private investigators on their last legs, physically and financially. They get a case that seems like a good deal to make a few bucks. Then they uncover some things that the really, really bad guys do not want uncovered. The more the bad guys try to get them off the case the harder they press. Then one of their families is murdered as a warning and they go methodically ballistic. Now they are looking not for information but for some people to kill. Also featured is Bill Hickman, one of Hollywood's most sought after stunt drivers and the driver of the black Charger in "Bullitt." You never saw Bill Cosby portray a quiet family man turned into a methodical, cold blooded killer. Don't miss a chance to see it.

Robert Culp directed this tough '70s crime flick about two down on thier luck private investigators in LA. Culp and Cosby are miles away from the characters they played in I SPY, but the chemistry is still their. Another note - several prominent actors make early appearances in this film - James Woods, and Michael Moriarty. Vincent Gardenia appears in the cliche role of the put upon, aggravated police contact. Good news - this film is now available on DVD. The company releasing it on DVD is AIP films. Quality of the transfer is mediocre, but it's still worth it to see this underrated film again.