CodyZamboni Z
High energy , never boring, but the two leads are too wacky crazy to create any rooting interest, The stuff they do really strech credibility, Alot of their banter is unintelligible, That said, there are top notch large scale car stunts , with hundreds of San Franciscan extras fleeing the destruction, Movie's tone goes hard core dark at the end, Valerie Harper adds comic class, and is the only appealing character, Alot of the stunts, the filmmakers make no effort to hide the obvious stuntmen who look nothing like James Caan and Alan Arkin
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
09/01/24
Full Review
acsdoug D
Alan Arkin and James Caan shoot a bunch of people and destroy half of San Francisco. When this movie first came out I thought it was hilarious. Not so this time around; it's safe to say that a teenager's sense of humor is not the same as an old man's sense of humor. Still, it was entertaining enough.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
05/26/24
Full Review
RW R
Two plain clothes San Francisco cops with New York accents do incredibly violent things for two hours while acting incredibly stupid and immature. Zany hi-jinks and wanton disregard for human life are combined at a level of uncontrolled idiocy. It is absolutely unfunny and completely rudderless in terms of story of plot. A collection of dumb sketches and poorly written scenes held together by some loosely defined police business the main characters are pursuing. All of the characterizations are totally inane. Alan Arkin yells at people all the time for no reason. James Caan is a wise cracking, affable doofus. They kill people, and laugh about it. Valerie Harper is Mexican, unconvincingly. The action scenes are complex and very well edited. That is the best and only well made thing about this movie. If you like extended car chase and insane bar room brawl-esque scenes in the context of a very bad film, this is your dream come true.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
09/23/23
Full Review
Allan C
Alan Arkin and James Caan play a couple of renegade goofball 70s San Francisco police detectives trying to take down a local crime boss. The plot is not what makes the film terrific, it's the hilarious banter and chemistry between Caan and Arkin that's irresistible and is what makes this a classic. But besides the amazing chemistry between the tightly wound Arkin and wild-man Caan, which they have in spades, there's an edge to their jabs and jibes, which is missing in most films today, which makes FREEBIE AND THE BEAN stand out as something special. Outside of a few contemporary filmmakers, such as Shane Black (THE NICE GUYS, KISS KISS BANG BANG) or Quentin Tarantino (INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, THE HATEFUL EIGHT), most movies now are too polite and cautious about being offensive, and when you come across something like FREEBIE AND THE BEAN that revels in its offensiveness, even by 1970s standards, it's something of a rare unicorn. Admittedly, if every movie was as wildly 1970s non-PC it would normalize that sort of offensive speech, which would not be a good thing, but I do have to confess to enjoying comedy that dares to shock and offend (I mean, THE BAD NEWS BEARS is freakin' hilarious, but would never get made today). This film is also unique and ahead of its time in its casual treatment of some pretty extreme violence that predates Tarantino, Elmore Leonard, or Carl Hiaasen's depictions of violence done for laughs. It's a movie that's so gleefully socially irresponsible and is completely comfortable getting the audience pumped for impending violence that it's so bold as to encourage the audience to then laugh at the mayhem. A perfect example of this is a scene where Caan and Arkin have a hitman cornered in a bowling alley restroom and director Richard Rush (THE STUNT MAN) films what seems endless close-ups of the two getting out their guns, loading their weapons, adjusting them in their belts, giving a funny and exciting build up to what's about to happen. The scene goes on for so long that it becomes absurdly hilarious in the most wonderful of ways, as well as gives what happens next great build-up. Critically panned when it was first released for its senseless violence, FREEBIE AND THE BEAN ended up being a major hit that spawned a short-lived TV series and was originally slated for a sequel that was to be directed by Arkin. Making great use of San Francisco locations, not even mentioning some of the hair-raising car chases (that train close call is unbelievable!), FREEBIE AND THE BEAN is an action/comedy classic that paved the way for the likes of 48HRS, LETHAL WEAPON, and their modern-day ilk. Seriously, I endlessly could watch this movie over and over again.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
07/12/23
Full Review
Security Officer J
One of my top 10 cop movies of the 70s!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
07/01/23
Full Review
Alan P
Genius Buddy movie, not very PC, thin plot, VERY funny! Go see!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
07/02/23
Full Review
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