Hickey & Boggs

PG

Released Oct 4, 1972

1h 51m

Crime

Drama

List

67%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

57%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

Two Los Angeles private eyes (Bill Cosby, Robert Culp) find a missing woman and follow her to loot from a Pittsburgh bank.

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A.H. Weiler

New York Times

"Hickey and Boggs" is not involved in a story or with characters really worthy of a full theatrical treatment.

May 21, 2014

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

Suffers through audience never being entirely certain as to the identity of some of the characters.

Feb 23, 2012

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Dick Lochte

Los Angeles Free Press

Everyone else, mystery buffs included, should get their money's worth out of spending a few hours in the company of Hickey and Boggs.

Jan 4, 2020

Full Review

TV Guide

This was Culp's only venture into movie directing, and he handles the assignment well, and he and Cosby are both credible in their roles.

Rated: 3/4

May 21, 2014

Full Review

Chuck O'Leary

Fantastica Daily

Walter Hill wrote this tough, uncompromising story of two down-on-their-luck private eyes. Marks a career high for both stars of TV's I Spy. Another of those overlooked 1970s gems that's ripe for rediscovery.

Rated: 3.5/4

Feb 3, 2006

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Not a pretty story, but it should bring a smile to Peckinpah.

Rated: A-

Dec 7, 2004

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camille l

Pour ce qui est de l'atmosphère, de la mise en scène et de l'esthétique d'Hickey & Boggs, Robert Culp a tout bon. Tantôt étouffant, tantôt désespérant, Hickey & Boggs a tout pour être un bon film noir bien ancré dans ses 70's. C'est alors extrêmement dommage que le scénario soit absolument incompréhensible passée la première demi-heure et que le nombre de personnages soit aussi important, surtout quand il est impossible de comprendre leurs enjeux dramatiques. Robert Culp et Bill Cosby sont bons, mais c'est plutôt Vincent Gardenia qui brille. A noter la présence d'un jeune James Woods.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Action and suspense films from the early 1970s have a distinctive period flavor to them. The surprisingly effective Hickey and Boggs - co-star Robert Culp's sole directorial effort - embodies that disillusioned and dissolute era of movie making. The rough and choppy editing, the oddly cropped shots keep the viewer on edge; so do the less than pristine cinematography and the cacophonous sound track, with dialogue overlaid on a constant, dull background roar of ambient noise. Often this proved to be a recipe for pretentious but empty disasters and cynical exploitation films; here, it all works to keep the level of unease - of menace - uncomfortably high--Action and suspense films from the early 1970s have a distinctive period flavor to them. The surprisingly effective Hickey and Boggs - co-star Robert Culp's sole directorial effort - embodies that disillusioned and dissolute era of movie making. The rough and choppy editing, the oddly cropped shots keep the viewer on edge; so do the less than pristine cinematography and the cacophonous sound track, with dialogue overlaid on a constant, dull background roar of ambient noise. Often this proved to be a recipe for pretentious but empty disasters and cynical exploitation films; here, it all works to keep the level of unease - of menace - uncomfortably high--A Potent Dose of 70's L. A. downbeat neo-noir!!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Gave it a spin off the TiVo and a cable recording after reading a friend's blog reviews of it, and I have to say that I was pretty impressed. Cosby and Culp manage a nicely bleak feeling from start to finish. Well worth a rental.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of those defeatist 70's neo-noir movies that has a charm, but it moves painfully slow in parts and is so devoid of humanity that it's kind of a downer, (which I get is the point, but that still doesn't mean you enjoy the time spent in the dark).

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Terrific crime film directed by Robert Culp, featuring the "I Spy" duo of Bill Cosby and Culp as PIs investigating a missing person case, which leads to, of course, more than they bargained for. The film was the first writing screen credit for Walter Hill, who would later go on to make many classics, including "The Warriors," "Extreme Prejudice" and "48hrs." While Hill can definitely write strong Dialogue (see "Hard Times" or "Undisputed") this one falls into the category of his less-is-more scripts when it comes to dialogue (see "The Driver" or "Last Man Standing"). But to this film specifically, it's a very tough detective story that is moodily directed by Culp. I'm disappointed that this was the only feature film directed by Culp. He really showed a really good sense of action and pacing, if not always great judgement when it came to some of the more broad characterizations. Still, this a terrific film that served a stark contrast to Culp and Cosby's very breezy "I Spy" TV series. And look fast for James Woods in only his second big screen appearance. You also get brief appearances by Michael Moriarty, Vincent Gardenia and Ed Lauter.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not a pretty story, but it should bring a smile to Peckinpah.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

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Robert Culp

Director

Bill Cosby

Al Hickey

Robert Culp

Frank Boggs

Rosalind Cash

Nyona

Sheila Sullivan

Edith Boggs

Isabel Sanford

Nyona's Mother

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Synopsis

Two Los Angeles private eyes (Bill Cosby, Robert Culp) find a missing woman and follow her to loot from a Pittsburgh bank.

Director: Robert Culp
Screenwriter: Walter Hill
Distributor: United Artists, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp.
Production Co: Film Guarantors
Rating: PG
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 4, 1972, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 29, 2017
Runtime: 1h 51m

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