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The Laughing Policeman

Play trailer Poster for The Laughing Policeman R 1973 1h 51m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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56% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 48% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
When a gunman opens fire on a crowded city bus in San Francisco, Detective Dave Evans (Anthony Costello) is killed, along with the man he'd been following in relation to a murder. Evans' partner, Sgt. Jake Martin (Walter Matthau), becomes obsessed with solving the case -- but all the witnesses are dead. Martin enlists a new partner, Leo Larsen (Bruce Dern), to help with the frustrating case, and when the pair is told to drop the investigation, they disobey the orders and close in on the killer.

Critics Reviews

View All (16) Critics Reviews
Pauline Kael New Yorker The choppy film makes practically no sense, but it has been set up to be a ghoul's delight. Sep 20, 2023 Full Review Richard Schickel TIME Magazine It loses a great deal in the translation from Stockholm to San Francisco's Dirty Harry country. Gloomy authenticity, for one thing; pace and a genuine sense of puzzlement, for others. Oct 27, 2015 Full Review Variety Staff Variety After an extremely overdone prolog of violent mass murder on a bus, The Laughing Policeman becomes a handsomely made manhunt actioner. Jul 22, 2008 Full Review Steve Warren The Barb (Atlanta) It's a damned good mystery movie, well-acted by Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, Lou Gossett, etc., and beautifully photographed in America's most beautiful city. May 9, 2023 Full Review Joanie Millard The Lesbian Tide [The Laughing Policeman is] one of the most outrageous, humorless exposes on violence and homosexuality ever produced. Not to mention the fact that it was so poorly edited one could not understand the last third of the picture. Apr 27, 2020 Full Review Dick Lochte Los Angeles Free Press The story is a good, gripping mystery, not so much a who-done-it as a how-will-we-nail-him. Dec 17, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (36) audience reviews
Brett G Damn stupid and boring - I want my two hours back!! Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/21/18 Full Review Audience Member A super opening and closing scene and Walter Matthau and Bruce Dern are the balls. The latter is extremely sleazy. It unfolds a little too easy but overall a solid 70's cop flick. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member From the early-70's zenith of crime and police-centered films, 'The Laughing Policeman' deserves credit, respect and recognition as a fine, gritty, accurate work that shows the way real officers interact and go through their work-days and solve crimes. Walter Matthau, mostly known for his astute comedic touch, is excellent, as is Bruce Dern, who's promoted to an uneasy partnership with Matthau, when the latter's partner, who was on vacation yet took an unsolved case home with him, is at the wrong place at the wrong time, part of a brutal mass murder on board a bus. The well-directed script shows how alienated a good policeman is from his family, how hated he is by most of the community, and the blind alleys and dead ends he has to go through in order to solve the case, and have it hold up in a court of law. It's 'Dirty Harry' or the 'French Connection' films done honestly, not as a fever dream of wish fulfillment from the policeman's perspective (though I must admit I love those too!)... Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Sometimes nothing beats a good, gritty crime thriller! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Good Walter Matthau vehicle co-starring Bruce Dern. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Between THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN it's a tie. Know what I mean? Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Laughing Policeman

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The Laughing Policeman

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Movie Info

Synopsis When a gunman opens fire on a crowded city bus in San Francisco, Detective Dave Evans (Anthony Costello) is killed, along with the man he'd been following in relation to a murder. Evans' partner, Sgt. Jake Martin (Walter Matthau), becomes obsessed with solving the case -- but all the witnesses are dead. Martin enlists a new partner, Leo Larsen (Bruce Dern), to help with the frustrating case, and when the pair is told to drop the investigation, they disobey the orders and close in on the killer.
Director
Stuart Rosenberg
Producer
Stuart Rosenberg
Screenwriter
Thomas Rickman
Production Co
Twentieth Century Fox
Rating
R
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Feb 1, 2005
Runtime
1h 51m