The Cynic, the Rat & the Fist

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Audience Member "The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist"... what a title. It reminds me of another famous film... hmm... what could it be. Perhaps "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"? Is this similarly titled Italian crime action thriller going to live up to the reputation of the more famous spaghetti western that inspired it's namesake? That would be a negatory but as a sequel to the enjoyable Poliziotteschi "Rome Armed to Teeth" this is an entertaining slice of Italian crime pizza. Maurizio Merli reprises his role as Inspector Leonardo Tanzi except this time he isn't an inspector. It seems after the events of "Rome Armed to the Teeth" Tanzi grew sick of the backward legal system being "kindhearted" to the corrupted fifth tearing apart Rome and has resigned and now makes a living writing detective novels. All is going well until one of his arch rivals known as "The Chinaman" (Tomas Milian) gets released from prison and sets his sights on getting revenge. After a failed assassination attempt on Tanzi, the police send him away to avoid being murdered but Tanzi decides to take vengeance himself. Tanzi decides to pull a "Yojimbo" (or a "Fistful of Dollars" if your more of a western fan) by setting up The Chinaman against his mafia business partner Frank Di Maggio (John Saxon). Knowing director Umberto Lenzi's hyper violent style it's safe to assume the streets of Rome are going to be running red. The filmmakers decide to mix up Merli's role here a bit by not having him play an inspector, commisioner or anything cop related. He instead is an ex-cop going vigilante to save his ass. This new approach to the typical Merli character was refreshing but I would be lying if I didn't miss his confrontational arguments with his superiors about his violent ways. It's also nice to see Tomas Milian return but don't be confused as he doesn't play the same hunchbacked villain he did in the previous film "Rome Armed to the Teeth." When I first saw this film a few years ago I actually thought he played the same character. Yes I know he got shot with a machine gun in the back at the end of the last film but this hasn't stopped character's in Italian crime thrillers from coming back before. Merli's character in the "Inspector Betti" trilogy got blown away with a machine gun at the end of the first two films yet managed to return unscathed in the next entry. But alas I digress as even though Milian's "Chinaman" character isn't the same as his hunchback villain he still plays both roles very similarly; both are slimy, despicable characters willing to blow anything that gets in his way for personal gratification. Why is he called "The Chinaman"... not sure as Milian sure doesn't look like he has Asian heritage. It's like calling Clint Eastwood's character "Blondie" in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" despite obviously he doesn't have blond hair. Umberto Lenzi is back to his violent ways as he loads up the film with exploitation goodness in the action department but he does inject a little more humor than he did in his previous Poliziotteschi crime films. Some of the humor works and some doesn't (like Merli making a goon say "cheese" before hitting him with a camera). Compared to Lenzi's previous 3 poliziotteschi films "Almost Human", "Rome Armed to the Teeth" and "Violent Naples" this comes up a hair short. The added humor mostly works against the powerful exploitative action scenes but overall it is still an entertaining, tasty edition to anyone's Euro Crime collection. The best DVD edition available is a release from Alfa Digital Entertainment which can easily be obtained through amazon.com, eBay or by special order by our friends at Plausible Denial Productions. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Italian crime thriller by the master Umberto Lenzi! Hilariously dubbed but well made with John Saxon as the bad guy. Plays like an Italian Chuck Norris movie! Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member For a change, Umberto Lenzi made a movie with the usual brutal violence, but without going overboard. Normally, his poliziottesci don’t shy away from sadistic cruelty performed on women and children. There is some physical violence towards women here, but within limits, and as far as I can recall, children do not even occur in this movie. The main focus is, of course, rampant crime and a frustrated, tenacious police inspector trying to fight this losing battle. Maurizio Merli’s character Leonardo Tanzi has done the same thing in “Roma a mano armata” (1976), a movie similar to this one. What makes “Il cinico, l'infame, il violento” special is not so much the opposition between Tanzi and the pivotal criminal – in this case Luigi 'Er Cinese' Maietto, played by Tomas Millian, but rather between the last-mentioned and another powerful criminal, the (Italian) American new kid on the block Frank Di Maggio (John Saxon). Add Merli’s usual inspector’s character and Millian’s creepy psychopath traits to this combo, and you’ve got a very entertaining Italian crime flic. The plot is dense and at times complicated (or is that just me not understanding every detail of an Italian movie with Italian subs?). I was wondering all along if Tanzi had been sacked or just been sent on holiday to recover from the injuries obtained during the “Cinese’s” hit on him. And did he plan to pursue the criminals or did he just stumble upon them after his friend in the store had been robbed? The funny thing is that such things just don’t matter in a movie like this. Either way, you’ll have action, violence and the evil Millian (who coolly has people’s bones broken by a carjack and sends out mourning cards of people not yet deceased), which is just what you want. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Maurizio Merli reprises his Dago take of Dirty Harry as inspector Leonardo Tanzi from Rome Armed To the Teeth in this superior sequel. This time he's off the force but is still looking to take out the dirty goomba's who's criminal ways have taken over the streets of Rome. Off the wall-halarious dialogue and a fast pace really make this one the best of the Merli films for me. Were as Rome Armed To The Teeth had too much of Merli spouting his fascist veiws and techniques, this time he shows that Tanzi has a personality outside of the police force. He even cracks a couple smiles. But the rest of the cast is really were the strengths lie. Tomas Milian, John Saxon and Renzo Palmer all have juicy roles. Milian is with out a doubt one of the best character actors in this genre of film. And Saxon just brings class whenever i see him. And finally Renzo Palmer always puts a smile on my face whenever i see him turn up in films. Hes in everything!! From start to finish this film never lets up. Next to Almost Human this is Lenzi's best film. And with a unforgetable Franco Micalizzi score this one becomes essential viewing. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member yep great film with a great cast funny as fuk maurizio merli is the best on screen even to this day Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member The Cynic , The Rat , And The Fist (1977) is a great Italian Cop Movie . With a superb cast . And Directed by cult Director Umberto Lenzi . And Starring the Super Macho Maurizio Merli . Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Cynic, the Rat & the Fist

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