Rating of
3/4
Pretty good laughs
The M.O.W. - wrote on 09/07/08
"Peter Jade" (Peter Paul) is a muscle-bound, cocky but skilled cat burglar who spray paints a cat head at every place he robs. His identical twin brother "David" (David Paul) is a polar opposite -- and a police detective.
Following the death of his partner, "David" captures his brother, who just broke into another building. However, he steals a card key which opens an underground vault with a huge cache of diamonds wanted by "Philip Chamberlain" (Roddy McDowell).
"Peter" lies his way out of jail, saying that he has information critical to a federal case. "Chief O'Brien" (James Doohan), who doesn't think too highly on "David", orders him to take his brother on as a partner.
Together, the two must go after "Chamberlain", and stop one of the biggest heists in the city's history, while bickering with one another.
This is no Acadamy Award winner at all, but it is a fun movie. The Pauls, better known as "The Barbarian Brothers", are a good comedic duo. Peter is pretty funny as the comic, and David does a good job as the Straight Man. Together, they produce some pretty good laughs for the audience and are enjoyable to watch.
McDonald, who is probably best known for his roles in the classic "Planet of the Apes" series, is fantastic as the villain the brothers are after. He plays "Chamberlain" as a cold man who wants those diamonds, and doesn't care who he, or his henchmen, have to kill to get what he wants. Another memorable, although very small role, is the late Doohan, who is easily recognizable to "Star Trek" fans as "Scotty" from the original series that launched the sci-fi franchise. Doohan plays the hot-headed, foul-mouth chief very well.
One problem with this movie is that it can lag. "The Barbarian Brothers" are not the best actors and it shows pretty frequently. The writing is pretty average as well, and goes for the feel of movies like "48 Hours" where opposites have to come together to reach a common goal while trying to get along, but failing. I also found that there wasn't really great character or subplot development. You can pretty much tell that there is a problem with the script since the co-stars share the first names of their characters.
Surprisingly, there really isn't a lot of gunplay for a cop movie. There is also a little blood, but there is nothing too gory. The worst thing you will get is a gunshot to the forehead with a small stream of blood coming from it.
This movie is obviously low budget. It looks as if the story takes place over a few days, but you wouldn't be able to tell because the performers are in the same outfits the entire time. "Peter" has two outfits, one of which is the black outfit he wears while pulling his crimes, while "David" is seen working out in one outfit, but spends the majority of the movie in the same sweatshirt and denim jeans.
Despite the obvious problems with the pace of the film, and the script itself, this would still be a pretty good rental. However, I wouldn't put it in your Top 10 "Must See Movies" list.
